Daniel Moore celebrates the third anniversary of 2Blue (17111)A SEX shop celebrates its third anniversary next week and is still going strong despite opposition to it opening.

The 2Blue shop, in Trowbridge, faced resistance from local councillors and religious groups when it opened in Narrow Wine Street, Trowbridge, in 2002 but has proved to be a success for owners Daniel Moore and Clara Jones.

Miss Jones, 34, said: "It has gone really, really well. It was the right decision to open in Trowbridge. The town is growing and it is now the main shopping centre for the area.

"Some people may not like it but you have to have respect for other people's opinions. If you don't want to come in then you don't have to."

The shop proved to be an instant hit, particularly with women, with half its stock of erotic toys selling out on the first day of opening in June 2002.

Initially, most of the customers were female but Miss Jones said the gender balance is now fairly even.

"We get a wide variety of customers but mainly people in their 30s or older and I would say the majority of our customers come from out of town because, even if they have a sex shop in their own town, people still get embarrassed and prefer the anonymity of going elsewhere."

To celebrate their third anniversary in business the couple have redecorated the shop with a theme designed to appeal to everyone.

Miss Jones decided to paint one wall purple, another pink and another blue, hoping to reflect all types of people, whether male or female, gay, straight, bisexual, married or single.

She said: "We wanted to include everyone but we also wanted to get away from the image of a sex shop as a dark, dingy kind of place."

The shop is open six days a week between 12pm and 7pm, and stocks a range of sex toys along with PVC and leatherwear, videos and magazines.

It operates a strict over-18s only policy and has a camera on the door so staff can stop youngsters before they even step inside.

Miss Jones said: "We are quite hidden away. I think there are a lot of people who don't even know we are here. Someone who moved here recently probably wouldn't have heard of us."

When Mr Moore initially proposed opening the shop he met with resistance from town councillors and a Warminster-based church group.

However, a petition against the business attracted few signatures and a licence was eventually granted, making it the first sex shop to open in west Wiltshire.