STAFF at an Atherton sex shop which has been told to close its doors have told The Journal: "We're not going anywhere".

People and traders in the town welcomed news this week that Wigan Council had ordered the Hot Spot, on Market Street, to quit within two weeks because it did not have a licence.

But Mary Miller, who has worked in the shop since it opened 16 months ago, said staff would continue to work until they were forced out of the premises.

"This is the first I've heard about it," she said, "but they're wrong if they think they can just close us. They've got a hell of a fight on their hands."

Last month, Wigan Council gave the landlord of the premises 21 days to tell them what the shop was selling. They were told to show what percentage of stock was pornographic or face a fine of £5,000.

If they continued trading without a licence they could then face a maximum penalty of £20,000 - an amount which has pressurised

the landlord into telling the manager to quit.

Mrs Miller, who said she did not know who ran the shop, insisted that the Hot Spot had caused no problems in Atherton.

She said: "In the very first weeks a couple of the local traders wanted the shop to shut, but since then we have never had any trouble. Nobody from Wigan Council has been here for months.

"We do good business. A couple of our customers came in this afternoon and said they hope we don't close. There's nothing we sell here you couldn't find in an Ann Summers shop. I think it's pathetic."

Alan Holgate, whose photographic studio is next door to the Hot Spot, said he would be glad to see the back of the sex shop.

He added: "To be quite honest, we weren't happy when it first opened. It has been a bit of an annoyance."

Rev Bill Baldwin, Rector of Atherton, said it would make no difference if the shop closed.