IT has an image that is proving hard to shake.

But mum of one Sarah-Jayne Marcussen is determined to get across the message: pole-dancing is good.

So much so that she has opened a new dance studio in Huddersfield to teach the skills.

And she is working with the University of Huddersfield, where students plan to launch a pole-dancing society in September.

“People do have this image of sleazy routines in front of men in a dark club”, said Sarah-Jane, 26.

“But people working in the fitness side know that is not the true picture.

“It is a great fitness system for anyone, of any age, and believe me there is nothing sexy about it.

“People hear that I am a pole-dancing instructor and immediately say `Your husband must be a lucky man’.

“He’s only lucky if he likes to see a woman getting very hot and sweaty in gym shorts and T-shirts and grunting as she tries another hard move”.

Sarah-Jane took up pole- dancing as a teenager after suffering ME while at school in Mirfield. She missed a year of lessons and also saw her weight balloon because of the illness and the medication.

“I saw a piece about pole dancing and thought I’d give it a go. I bought a pole that took £200 of my savings and put it up in my bedroom.

“My parents saw how determined I was and cleared out the dining table so I could move the pole to the dining room to give me more room.

“Things progressed and I started teaching. I travelled all over the UK to learn from many experts and began getting the qualifications I needed”.

Sarah-Jane, who is married to Morgan, then had more than a year out having given birth to daughter Lily-Faye a year ago.

She also had problems during the pregnancy and was in a wheelchair for a time.

But now she is back teaching classes of both men and women and has opened a fitness studio in a former dance studio in Marsh Mills in Luck Lane.

Some of her pupils are university students and they are working with her to set up the society.

“Several universities such as Bristol, York and Newcastle already have pole-dancing societies and they compete at national level.

“I thought why not Huddersfield so we set up meetings and now the society is set to form in the autumn term.

“It can only help us rid pole-dancing of the sleazy image. I have never danced in a pub or club, I’ve certainly never taken any clothing off and we have seen pole dancers on the TV on shows like Got to Dance and Britain’s Got Talent.”

Pole-dancing is a mix of dance and gymnastics

It is thought to have originated in the USA in the 1920s when travelling show dancers used tent poles as props

Chinese acrobats used pole performances in their act with Barnum & Baileys circus in the 1940s

It gained a notoriety when the craze was taken over by exotic dancers in strip clubs and lap-dance clubs in the late 1990s

Serious enthusiasts believe it is a strenuous fitness regime

There are now pole-dance competitions in many countries and the first world title was won by Elena Gibson, of the UK, in 2005.