Peter Stringfellow has died, aged 77

Strip club owner Peter Stringfellow has died following a battle with cancer

Peter Stringfellow has died aged 77 following a battle with cancer, a spokesperson has said. The British businessman, who wanted to keep his illness private, died in the early hours of Thursday morning. Since opening in 1980, the businessman's strip club "Stringfellows," on Upper St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden, is one of the longest-running venues in the capital. Stringfellow went on to open clubs in Paris, New York, Miami and Beverly Hills and was known as "The King of Clubs." His career in nightlife began in 1962 when he rented out a church in Sheffield, where he was born and raised, every Friday night. When the Beatles agreed to play there in 1963 he had to rent out a bigger venue, such was the demand for tickets. Stringfellows became notorious for its "Cabaret of Angels" table-side dancing nights, which operated three days a week. The venue's website describes itself as "the most famous gentleman's club in the world" and "not a private club but a club for private people." Stringfellow leaves behind his 27-year-old wife Bella Wright, and his four children Rosabella, Angelo, Scott and Karen. He was also a grandfather to Taylor, Jamie, Thomas and Isabelle.