IN A crackdown on sleaze -- first highlighted by The Citizen four months ago --a Blackpool Council officer went undercover to investigate a bar and a club on the Promenade.

And what he saw at The Boardwalk bar and Palace nightclub is the subject of a lengthy report which is to be discussed at a meeting of the Licensing and Appeals Committee tomorrow (Friday).

The two venues will be scrutinised for "possible breaches of their Public Entertainments Licences".

According to the report to the committee, the enforcement officer visited the Palace, Central Promenade, on September 23 at 1.45pm in the afternoon and was confronted with male and female strippers performing lewd acts while the DJ encouraged the crowd with filthy language.

On returning to the same club seven days later he found three scantily clad females outside while a person with a megaphone actively touted on the street promoting the entertainment as "the rudest show on the Promenade."

On September 30 the officer visited the Boardwalk at 2pm in the afternoon and reported the activities of several strippers, extremely crude language used by the DJ and the appearance of a woman referred to as "Whiplash Wendy".

Outside the Boardwalk complex on this occasion was a loudspeaker fixed to the outside wall of the building. People walking past -- including children -- could hear the DJ using foul and abusive language. Billboards outside the club advertised "Blackpool's rudest show by far". The club also advertised their show by using an open-topped car in which scantily clad girls -- known as the Pink Pussycats -- patrol the Promenade drumming up business.

Palace nightclub deputy manager Cath Healy said of the report yesterday: "Our entertainment was agreed with the council prior to its conception and has run throughout the summer because we felt there was the demand for it. "But we are more than happy to co-operate with the council even though we have received no other complaints and have in fact stopped the afternoon show.

"As for the evening topless entertainment this will be the last week that that sort of entertainment is available at the Palace."

Owners of The Boardwalk and Club One Eleven, Preston-based Honeycomb Leisure, did not wish to make any comment.

Ironically yesterday was also the day that a vision for the future to turn Blackpool back into a vibrant and prosperous town was passed by councillors.

The executive committee met to approve the five-year corporate plan which involves working together with the police, the health authority and the Blackpool Challenge Partnership. The plan, which contains more than 70 performance targets and will be regularly monitored by the council, sets out six overall priorities which are believed to be central to making Blackpool a better place to live, work and visit. They include:

IMPROVING education at all levels

REGENERATING the tourism industry

IMPROVING quality of life in urban areas

REDUCING poverty in the resort

CLAMPING down on crime and disorder

IMPROVING the health of the town's residents

Council leader George Bancroft said: "We are aiming high for Blackpool's future, setting out the stall on key issues facing the council and the town. The corporate plan sets out bold and ambitious targets for improvement in all these important areas."