London, Oct 4 : A UK council has taken pole dancing out of the strip clubs, by offering classes of the dance form to children as young as 11.

Cardiff Council has announced that it will be offering pole dancing classes to kids as part of a council-run initiative.

The council further said that the workshops had “captured people’s imaginations” and “proved popular with families” as a great way to keep fit.

An advertisement for the dance form, overwhelmingly linked to the sex industry, states: “Try pole dancing, women and under-16s.”

The adverts feature a photograph of a scantily clad woman twisting around a dance pole with the tag line: “Something you’ve always wanted to have a go at.”

The ad adds that the two-hour sessions are a great introduction to “vertical dance” and are “suitable for participants of 11 years and upwards”. The classes run at the St David’s Hall arts centre in Cardiff.

“The sessions are led by highly-skilled professionals and have proved particularly popular with families wanting to try something together,” The Sun quoted a ardiff spokesman, as saying.

However, the initiative has outraged many people, who assert that offering the classes to kids is inappropriate for their age.

“I think that even though they probably have good intentions of teaching people under 16, some men might think of it in the traditional sense - young girls pole dancing,” Kerrie Grove, who runs Vanity Pole Dance, said.

“Even though it has changed and become a fitness activity I don’t think this can ever be a good idea,” Grove added. (With inputs from ANI)