A massage parlour that operated for months without a licence has been refused permission to reopen.

Sauna 2K, in Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, which boasts online of “offering London’s gentlemen an oasis of relaxation” and of having an “unrivalled selection of international girls” was refused a special treatment licence on December 13.

Islington Council refused to grant the licence – which is needed for the provision of services such as massage – after concluding that the management could be “reasonably regarded as not being fit and proper” and because the workers were not “suitably qualified”.

Sauna 2K operated without a licence from October 1, 2011, until December 7 this year.

The news of the licence being withheld was welcomed by Cllr Paul Convery, the council’s executive member for community safety, who is clamping down on saunas and massage parlours.

He said: “Local residents will be pleased that councillors on Islington’s licensing committee refused to grant permission for sauna and massage services at this club.”

Sauna 2K had been in business for more than 10 years and had a special treatment licence from 2000 until it lapsed in September 2011.

The applicant’s solicitor, Richard Barca, of Wilson Barca Solicitors, had previously told the Gazette: “It [the licence application] should have been submitted in September last year, but I think it got lost in the post.”