A controversial swingers club accused of lowering the tone of a sleepy village is to close - but the new owners are fetishists.

Nudist days, spanking evenings, fetish swingers parties and pole dancing have all been promised by Club Liberty, the new management, much to the dismay of neighbours in the heart of conservative rural Sussex.

Disapproving villagers, who have been campaigning to oust the swingers of Scaynes Hill for months, are alarmed by news of their new neighbours.

They had already been shocked by claims of pornography and orgies which they accused the over-18s Hamshaw club of promoting.

Villagers were more used to campaigning for a new village hall as part of a millennium project until the swingers arrived in Sloop Lane, in the quiet village near Haywards Heath.

Visitors were more likely to be the kind who came to admire the pretty 19th century St Augustine's church, with its large needlepoint work panels depicting the stories from the Gospel of St John.

But all that changed when the Hamshaw club opened, attracting the kind of visitors which neighbours thought turned the village into a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It advertised itself as an adult health spa but neighbours complained of some of the more naughty antics.

Dozens of people complained to Mid Sussex District Council and formed a committee to protest against the club, which they said blighted the area.

The council ordered the club, also known as the Brighton Sun Club, to put a stop to its pole dancing events as it did not have the required public entertainment licence but the club remained open.

Villagers are even more dismayed by the news that fetish events company Club Liberty has moved in to run the club.

Club Liberty, which has bought the Hamshaw club, describes itself as Europe's Biggest and Best Liberated Lifestyles Resort.

Ronald Newbury, 76, retired, of Awbrook Close, Scaynes Hill, said: "I think this will bring the wrong sort of people to the area. The only positive thing is it is out of the way."

Mother-of-five Michelle Ratcliffe, 42, of Orchard Close, Scaynes Hill, said: "I wouldn't want my children to see anything like that. You expect places like this in London or Brighton, not in a little village like Scaynes Hill."

However, one resident of Sloop Lane, Scaynes Hill, was not so concerned. He said: "People do whatever they want to do. They go there, pay their money, and then leave."

Managing director and owner of Club Liberty Brian Sheridan said: "All the documents have been signed, we are just waiting for everything to be completed by the lawyers now. Hamshaws will be completely taken over and will be called Club Liberty.

"We will put up a CCTV electronic barrier and people will have membership cards so you cannot just walk in by mistake."

Club Liberty, currently based in Surrey, will apply for licences and plans to transfer completely to Scaynes Hill while the Surrey property is redeveloped.

Martin Burrekoven-Kalve, spokesman for Mid Sussex District Council, said: "At the end of the day we are a licensing authority and our responsibility is to ensure that we licence all premises that require it."