Luo Lan runs the first pole dancing school in Beijing, and reckons the activity is losing the seedy image which has put off a lot of people from trying it as a method of keeping fit. She's now planning to launch a similar enterprise in an effort to encourage more people to take up pole dancing in the UK.

Luo told The Scotsman:

"When I first started, people would only come furtively, and not tell their boyfriends or husbands. Now people come and say 'oh, my husband let me sign up'. This progress is very obvious.

"The more and more people do it the wider the acceptance will be. They'll see that it's normal and natural."