Several businesses have refused to display posters for a risqué play with a titillating title - but one of the actresses insists: "It's not porn!"

Amateur theatre group The Lindley Players is set to debut Sex with Strangers at the Playhouse theatre in Whitstable later this month.

But about five locations in the town have declined to have the adverts on show - with a further four taking them down.

Am-dram performer Francesca Monk, who stars in the play, says it has "a lot of sexual content" and she wouldn't let her children see it.

But while the scenes are "intimate", they could not be classed as "pornography".

Ms Monk says she is "surprised" by the reaction to the posters, which feature the play's title with a an image of a lip-biting mouth, as she thought Whitstable was more "open-minded".

"We have a lady from the Playhouse who goes around town and puts posters up," the 38-year-old said.

"In a couple of places, she went in and they said, ‘No, we can’t display that because of what the play is called’.

"In another couple of places, she took posters in, went back and they had not been displayed or they had been taken down.

"I have two children - aged seven and 11 - and I would have no problem with them seeing [the posters].

"I was a bit surprised about finding out they were causing offence but 'Sex with Strangers' is a titillating title."

The poster includes a warning that the play contains "sexual references and strong language".

"Whitstable is quite an open-minded place and I was quite surprised..."

Ms Monk added: "It definitely has its risque bits and I won’t be letting my children come to watch it.

"There is a lot of sexual tension between the two characters and there is lots of sexual content - but it is intimate but not pornography."

The Whitstable resident says five locations refused to display the posters and four have since taken the posters down.

"This is the first time people have been concerned about the posters over the past five years I have been here," she added.

"Whitstable is quite an open-minded place and I was quite surprised.

"The Playhouse does make sure things are considerate and managed responsibly. For this play, we even have an intimacy coach."

In Sex with Strangers, Ms Monk plays Olivia, a 39-year-old writer worried about subjecting her work to public scrutiny, having been hurt by the reception of her first and only novel.

The play starts in a snowbound cabin that is designed as a retreat for reclusive and desperate writers - its sole occupant being Olivia.

But the peace is shattered by the arrival of Ethan, a handsome, tech-savvy guy 10 years her junior who has enjoyed huge success with an internet memoir, called Sex with Strangers.

The two writers soon discover they have a lot in common as they realise they want more of what the other has.

Sex with Strangers - which is written by Laura Eason and has featured in the West End and Broadway - will be showing at the Playhouse in Whitstable High Street from September 21 to 24.