A comedian who describes herself as a feminist has told Newsbeat her gig has been cancelled because of planned protests by feminists over her views on prostitution.

Kate Smurthwaite was due to perform at Goldsmiths University in London this evening.

But she says her show has been pulled because staff said they "could not guarantee the safety of students".

The Feminist Society denies it has anything to do with the decision.

A statement from the president of the Comedy Society said: "Despite many complaints from students about the content of Kate's act in the past we were planning to go ahead with the gig until Kate told me 24 hours before that there was likely to be a picket with lots of students and non-students outside the venue.

"I couldn't verify this. Up to this point we had only sold eight tickets so I decided to pull the plug."

Row over ticket sales

Kate says she understood the gig to be primarily aimed at members of the Comedy and Feminist Societies, who would not need tickets.

The ones on sale were intended to be a way for the societies to make some extra cash.

"I'm really angry at them trying to do this [referring to ticket sales]," Kate tells Newsbeat.

"This is them trying to undermine and discredit me and the professional work that I do."

She says the venue and organisers have a responsibility to market the event and that she would have been happy to do promotional work to draw audiences.

Kate has previously said she is a supporter of the "Nordic model" on prostitution - and had been debating with people on Twitter about the issue over the weekend.

This legal model decriminalises sex work but makes it illegal to pay for sex. In other words, it's the client who is the criminal, not the prostitute.

While supporters say this policy reduces prostitution, opponents say it actually makes it more dangerous by driving it underground - and wastes money on policing people who are engaged in consensual sex.

Ms Smurthwaite says she was told on Sunday that a vote had been held by Goldsmiths Feminist Society on whether they should support Kate's appearance, with around 70% voting in favour of it going ahead.

She was also told that people may come to the event "to pick a fight".

Although she was keen to still put on the show, she was told that because of the risk of a picket line, they couldn't "ensure the safety of students" and so the gig would be cancelled.

In a statement on her Facebook page, Kate says: "The strangest thing is that my show is not about prostitution.

"I find it very strange that anyone would feel they couldn't enjoy a comedy show unless they agreed with 100% of the political views of the person performing."

Kate Smurthwaite's Leftie Cockwomble is described as being about "free speech".

Other comedians have come out in support of Kate, including Jason Manford, who tweeted: "I'm angry for you."

A spokesman for Goldsmiths Student Union says: "The Goldsmiths comedy society is a small volunteer led group.

"They made this decision independently from the union and we support their right to decide who plays their gigs."

The Feminist Society has yet to release any further information.

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