You can't mistake his gravelly Sheffield voice, nor his trademark mullet. Defying fashions, hairstyles and political correctness, Peter Stringfellow has successfully bridged the generations and is as famous now as he ever was, for all the wrong reasons, writes Katherine MacAlister.

Envied by every straight man in the country, the 63-year-old is Britain's answer to Hugh Hefner, whom he much admires. Having forged a career out of strip clubs, topless and now nude dancers, Peter set the precedent for

lapdancing venues all over the country.

His Cabaret of Angels in London's West End is infamous, and he spends his time there surrounded by naked beauties, sipping champagne and proudly sleeping his way through one female goddess after another - the current tally is 3,000.

But it seems times have changed. Peter has been faithful to one of his dancers, Lucy, 27, for four years now, and is helping her launch a pop career. He has also moved with her to a £2m villa in Majorca.

Either way, it's a far cry from Peter Stringfellow, the Sheffield steelworker's son who left school at 15, where he was badly bullied, joined the merchant navy at 17, married at 20, and was in prison by 21. It was only when he hired the local church hall in 1962 and had relative unknowns like the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder playing, and for the first time in his life the girls came flocking, that his destiny was secured.

So he is the ideal candidate to speak at the Oxford Union next week about 'whether life is too short to drink cheap wine'.

"Who better to speak about it than me? I hated school, but I would have loved Oxford. I'm just looking forward to my honorary degree now and my cloak and hat," he laughs.

After all, this is the man who came back from bankruptcy in the 80s, and now owns a house in Majorca, a flat in London, a yacht in Ibiza, an apartment in Miami, and a job most men would die for.

"Women and money have a habit of going together. No one who's married or has a girlfriend will tell you otherwise," he chuckles.

The feminists will love that one, but Peter is used to taking them on.

"At Stringfellows women are empowered. They are earning their own money and men are spending it, and they are in charge. I don't think we do anything anti-feminist. Women should be allowed to do what they want," he says, before adding: "I always think it's interesting that no feminists are pro-Thatcher, and she was the greatest Prime Minister we ever had."

Yet his greatest attribute is his ability to laugh at himself. He certainly doesn't take himself too seriously.

"My image is crazy. People think I have my choice of girls and are surrounded by sexy people taking their clothes off, which is somewhat true," he chuckles.

"It's wonderful and the best job in the world. But I own it, dictate it and control it. The more serious side of my

character is not well known," he adds mysteriously.

The serious Peter Stringfellow can be found in court fighting for the licensing laws. And he's very good at it. He was granted the first topless table dancing licence in 1996, and has just been granted the controversial nude dancing, but no touching, licence. "I like to think of myself as a pioneer of the licensing laws," he says, obviously enjoying every minute of it. He relishes his court appearances and has been known to stay in the witness box for up to four hours arguing his case.

So what next?

This is a tricky question for Peter Stringfellow.

"The next step would be a legalised brothel," he admits, which he is completely against, arguing that the Cabaret Of Angels only works because it is fantasy.

"At the end of the day hookers are hookers. The girls in my club are really beautiful because they just dance," he explains.

His other dilemma is that with the advent of Spearmint Rhino from the US, the competition is increasing, but as he says: "There are good clubs and bad clubs, good restaurants and bad. As long as we maintain our reputation doing the things we do we'll be fine."

But it's not keeping him awake at night.

"I'm in a four-year relationship and it suits me. I'm happy. People have an idea that I'm this sex-mad person who hits on all the girls, but the reality is I'm slowing down."

Quite an admission for 'Britain's favourite playboy.'

But then he never had to make an effort with women in the first place.

Having never used a chat-up line in his life, he relies on: "Hi, I'm Peter Stringfellow. I own the place."

So does he ever get sick of beautiful naked women and have fantasies about librarians?

"All women have a sexy side and a personality can be just a big a turn-on as anything."

But, he laughs: "I've never had a librarian and I don't think I ever will."

Peter Stringfellow will be appearing at the Oxford Union on June 19.