Shoppers in a historic market town can add chocolate body paint and furry handcuffs to their baskets from today as a sex shop chain opens its doors.

The Ann Summers shop's arrival in leafy, conservative Horsham proves the UK has finally shed its prudish "No sex please, we're British" reputation.

The doors of the chain's 87th shop were opened today, complete with a scantily-clad model to greet unsuspecting residents on their way to M&S.

It is yet to be seen how the residents of the respectable town, with its picture postcard streets and quaint market squares, will react to the famous sex shop, but judging by the chain's success elsewhere, it will go down a storm.

Gone are the days of red faces and plain paper coverings, as seedy, male-dominated sex shops are replaced with brightly-lit, trendy erotic boutiques aimed at women.

Ann Webb, 72, chairman of the West Sussex Federation of Women's Institutes, said she may not be popping into the shop herself but that she was happy enough to see it open.

She said: "I don't have a problem with the shops but I don't think I would want to go into one them as that sort of underwear wouldn't suit me."

Ann Summers chief executive Jacqueline Gold says British attitudes towards sex are changing.

She said: "People are more relaxed about spicing up their sex lives.

"Ann Summers is all about attitude. Our products are fun and sexy. There's no stereotypical customer.

"We offer a range of product designed for total pleasure, from sensual lingerie to play wear, edible body paints and massage oils to toys and novelties."

Other lingerie sellers such as Agent Provocateur and Covent Garden's Coco de Mer, run by Body Shop founder Anita Roddick's daughter Sam, have joined Ann Summers in revolutionising attitudes to sex and the contents of women's top drawers.

Ann Summers enjoyed a surge in sales last year, with purchases of lingerie and sex toys jumping by 28 per cent, while the company's internet sales leapt by a whopping 71 per cent.

Jacqueline Gold expects profits to reach about £9.5 million, more than double the previous year's figure.

The company recently has won its legal fight against a ban on advertising for workers in job centres.

A High Court judge quashed the decision to ban the job adverts after Jobcentre Plus issued a new policy statement banning eight types of job adverts, including "the Ann Summers category" in November last year.