A man who claimed he was fleeced out of £50,000 in one night at a London strip club is among a number of customers who say they have fraudulently lost thousands of pounds there.

The alleged victim said he woke up after a night out on 27 February and discovered the five-figure credit card receipts.

But he said he did not remember agreeing to pay that sum, which included £28,000 charged to his card "in the last few minutes" before he left the SophistiCats club in Eversholt Street, Camden.

The man told police he first visited another SophistiCats club on Brewer Street in Soho at about 2.15am, before later being transported by car to the Eversholt Street venue, which he could not recall going to.

A police officer who looked at CCTV footage from inside the Camden club's VIP area on the night said it was "clear" the man was not fully aware of what was going on around him.


Image: A number of customers claim they were victims of fraud at the venue

A card machine was taken into the VIP area, while a waitress "on more than one occasion" indicated for performers to start dancing, which appeared to distract the man as he entered his card details, the officer said.

"All of these actions appear to be aggressive sales techniques with the victim looking unaware of his surroundings and predicament," the officer added in a report.

"This victim did not even know that he had attended the SophistiCats in Camden, as his last memories were of him and his friend having a drink in the SophistiCats venue in Soho, Westminster."

The man bought several bottles of champagne, each costing £1,000, during the night in the VIP area, Camden Trading Standards said.

However, he was unable to make a "reasoned decision" on whether to buy them as there was no price list on display in the venue at the time.

Meanwhile, another man claimed £8,000 was taken from his account in several transactions during a drunken visit on 28 September "without his consent", while his friend was charged £2,500, the report said.

The Met's licensing officer said: "All of the above allege that they believe that they are victims of fraudulent activities."

SophistiCats on Eversholt Street could lose its Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEV) licence as the Metropolitan Police and Camden Trading Standards have recommended it is not renewed by Camden Council on 9 January.

Trading standards and the Met said new conditions should be imposed if the licence is renewed, including earlier closing times and transactions being recorded audibly, as well as on CCTV.

SophistiCats said in a statement: "These are allegations not incidents and the club will supply, at the hearing, a full rebuttal to all accusations."