Savile costumes banned

Halloween revellers have been warned they will be declined entry to Notts pubs and clubs if they choose to dress as Jimmy Savile.

The disgraced star’s trademark tracksuit, white hair and cigar combo has been a popular fancy dress choice in the past.

Despite the revelations about his sickening past, the outfit has proved even more popular this year. Dozens of students were spotted impersonating Savile at last week’s 7 Legged bar crawl.

But a string of watering holes told the Nottingham Post they would reject anyone dressed as the paedophile presenter.

Charlotte Cordon, deputy manager of Yates’ in Long Row, said: “We feel it is very inappropriate as Yates’s is a family venue in the day and we don’t want people to be offended by what has happened and therefore lose custom on the basis.

“It is completely unacceptable to be making jokes about this situation and anyone attempting it will be refused entry and service.”

Lewis Raine, promotions manager at Gatecrasher in Queen Street, said: “Anyone who comes to Gatecrasher dressed as Jimmy Savile will be denied entry. It is tasteless and disrespectful to the victims.

“We have quite a strict policy on fancy dress. We don’t mind tasteful fancy dress but we do not allow anything crude or vile. We don’t want to portray an image that we are all right with making fun of serious stuff; this is not a funny subject.”

Last week, The Times newspaper was criticised for publishing a cartoon depicting a Jimmy Savile Halloween mask that you can cut out and keep, describing it as “your scary monster cut-out Halloween Jim mask!”.

And eBay users are auctioning costumes imitating the disgraced star. One seller offers a ‘Genuine Jimmy Savile – Nike Gold Lame Tracksuit’ which is described as the “Ultimate Halloween Costume”.The price tag is a whopping £450.00, not even including postage. (Correct at time of print, bidding ends at 15:29 Oct 31st 2012).

Those wearing the “tasteless and disrespectful” attire will have their night cut short as pubs and clubs across Notts have guaranteed they will not hesitate in turning away any Savile lookalikes.

What do you think? Are they right to ban the costume? Join the debate @thetabnotts