TRADERS today joined the fight against plans for a sex shop near Weymouth seafront.

They fear it would tarnish the resort's family image and be in full view of children going to the beach or stuck in traffic jams.

Darker Enterprises Ltd, which is based in Essex, sparked uproar after applying for a sex establishment licence for empty premises at the top of King Street.

Ward councillor Joy Stanley and some members of the Weymouth Waterside Community Forum have vowed to fight the plans.

Now hotelier Keith Salmon and Bill White, who is chief executive of Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have hit out at the proposals.

Mr Salmon, of the Rex Hotel, said: "I am not a prude but the position being suggested is extremely wrong.

"It is stuck on the main drag into town and there are always traffic jams. We are a family resort and children stuck in jams will look out the window and see a sex shop.

"People who choose not to go through the underpass to cross the road will have to go around the railings and go past it."

Mr Salmon, who is also chairman of the World Heritage Coast Hospitality Association, added: "It is most inappropriate."

The licensed shop would be the first of its kind in Weymouth and Portland as the nearby shop Discretion in Ranelagh Road does not need a licence because the percentage of sex items on sale is below the required level.

Objectors have just under a month to lodge their objections.

Mr White said: "It is very likely that the chamber will put in an objection.

"The shop is in the wrong place. Weymouth is a family resort. We don't want families with young children passing the doors on their way from the car parks to the beach.

"It is completely out of character for the area."

The concerns come after recent calls for resorts such as Weymouth to go upmarket to survive.

Darker Enterprises Ltd owns a series of shops across the country selling videos, magazines and sex toys.