A reporter from the Express & Echo went undercover, posing as a debt-ridden would-be lap dancer, to find out more about a new strip club due to open in Exeter.

The controversial nude lap dancing club has prompted a series of articles and readers’ letters in the Echo, and so the paper decided to set up its own investigation to find out more about the people behind it.

It sent one if its female reporters to meet the co-owner Julie Eyre at a city centre bar, telling her she was out of work and desperate for cash – and captured the meeting using a hidden video camera.

Revealing its findings, the Echo reported that during the 45-minute conversation its reporter was advised on how she might seek help from a debt management company – but after she explained that she was willing to do almost anything for money she was told how she could get in touch with the owner of a ‘massage parlour’.

The paper also reported that she was told how she could cheat the tax man, and that bankruptcy was an easy way out of debt.

Echo editor Marc Astley told HoldtheFrontPage that he felt the investigation and the paper’s undercover tactics were in the public interest.

He said: “We took legal advice and the view was that at least one local councillor had voiced concerns that it would be degrading to women and the potential for exploitation.

“Our view was that it was in the public interest and what we found was not the sort of information that would be volunteered had our reporter said she was from the paper.”

The Echo published an edited transcript of the conversation over four pages and posted footage taken from the hidden video camera on its website. Click here to see the film.