Ref. 14554A MARRIED couple behind plans for a sex shop in Warminster have defended claims they are out to offend.

Chris and Anne Thomas have managed Fun and Fantasy in Tidworth for two- and-a-half years but are looking to expand in west Wiltshire.

The husband and wife team are actively searching for an outlet in Warminster to open a store selling adult material but have already attracted opposition from church groups.

Warminster-based Found-ation Christian Fellowship blames sex shops for damaging marriages and relationships and are lobbying opposition ahead of a licensing application.

But the couple have pledged to find a discreet location and claim they are serving a demand.

Mr Thomas said: "We need to find premises suitable to keep everyone happy.

"We don't want to be in people's faces so that will stop us opening the shop near a school, hospital or church.

"My wife and I run a respectable business. It is more like an Anne Summers store and we don't like to have blacked out windows.

"We realise some people feel embarrassed about it so we aim not to offend these people, but the demand is definitely out there."

The only shop in west Wiltshire currently licensed to sell adult material is 2Blue in Trowbridge.

Mr Thomas said: "When you mention the words sex shop it makes it sound sordid but I don't agree with allegations that we attract the wrong sort of people. Our customers are from all walks of life and in fact we have more women than men."

West Wiltshire District Council is now drafting policy and guidelines to deal with applications in response to the sex shop inquiry.

District Councillor Richard Wiltshire, portfolio holder for licensing, said: "The key elements of the policy are likely to be the location, so a sex shop is not next to a school, and a limit number of similar shops allowed in one town at a time."

But the Foundation Christian Fellowship is rallying opposition in the town.

The Rev Stephen Wood said: "I would oppose a sex shop even if it was 400 miles beneath the earth and only accessible by a lift. Through the church we counsel many couples whose marriages have broken up due to pornography."

To open an adult shop the couple must secure a site and apply for a licence to trade.