Soho sign of style not sleaze, Londoners tell HK residents

London's Soho district yesterday hit out at Hong Kong's 'cheeky' and 'unfortunate' ban on SoHo street signs in Central, saying the name was no longer linked to seedy nightlife and that locals should be proud to adopt it.

Officials and traders in London said Soho had shed its long-held reputation for sleaze and was now a cosmopolitan dining and bar area.

Their comments came a day after the Post reported that residents around the Mid-Levels escalator feared that 'SoHo' signs to help visitors would give the trendy bar zone a bad name. Central and Western District Council has blocked moves by a business group called the SoHo Association to put up the signs.

But London Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesman Vincent Burke said: 'Soho in London is seen as far more than just a red-light area, it's seen as one of the liveliest parts of the capital, full of trendy cafes and restaurants and clubs.

'It's close to [London's theatres] and a great place to go out and enjoy yourself, so it's rather unfortunate that people still associate it with the more unsavoury aspects. It's just a question of educating people - maybe people who have these images have not lived in London for 20 or 30 years.'

Pat Austin, owner of Cafe Soho in London's Ingestre Place, said the objections to the name were 'cheeky, cheeky, cheeky'.

'In the '60s it was very much a red-light district with lots of sexy clubs and magazines. Of course now there are a few of those places but it's become very much the coffee-culture scene. There are some gay bars, but lots of regular bars and little restaurants,' she said, adding that the name Soho should be used with pride.