Topless barmaids divide a town

Church leaders in Oberon, in the state's west, have met to discuss what to do, while police have received numerous complaints about the new entertainment at the Oberon Tourist hotel.

"We don't want this type of sleaze, this isn't King's Cross," said one woman, who has been putting the hose on patrons as they leave the pub.

Yet not everyone is opposed to the topless barmaids. These days it's a packed house whenever they appear, said new licensee, Jan Smithers.

"This place was dead. We'd be lucky to have three people in here on a Friday, now it's packed with about 100," Ms Smithers said.

So popular is the move that people are travelling up to 60km from nearby towns of Orange, Bathurst and Lithgow.

"I'm here for the main attraction," Jake Evans of Orange said on Friday night. "It's great if it gets people to the pub to drink."

The topless barmaid, who did not want to be named, said Oberon patrons were more polite than city clientele. "In the country, because they never get this sort of thing, they're a bit embarrassed and treat you with respect," she said.

But many womenfolk, including Sarie Stapleton, won't allow their husbands to go to what's been dubbed "titty night".

"No fear would he be going. He wouldn't dare ask, or he'd never get in the house again," Mrs Stapleton, 34, said.

The bust-up between locals began on the Mother's Day weekend, when the topless barmaids first appeared. While many were drawn to the pub with the blacked-out windows, others were disgusted.

Ms Smithers said she was shocked at the reaction: "I thought it would be accepted, just like a disco.

"It certainly created a lot of controversy in the town."

Long-term resident Ian Cunningham said people were overreacting.

"Why don't they get a life. It's like watching television -- if you don't like it, switch it off. What else is there to do in Oberon except freeze to death?"

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