A university professor is being paid to study the work and lifestyles of strippers.

The Canadian government is giving Becki Ross a $50,000 grant - about �22,000 - for the three-year study.

Professor Ross, a sociology professor at the University of British Columbia, said she had been a "spectator at strip shows for many years", and that erotic dancing was an "art form".

She is getting the grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

"I am fascinated by erotic dancers, their work conditions and lifestyles," she said.

"They are migrant workers, just like tennis players, hockey stars and singers. But there has been no public recognition of their work."

Taxpayers critical

Prof Ross, 41, wants to interview women who earned their living as erotic dancers or strippers between 1945 and 1980.

She said the government grant would pay for the work of a graduate student who would be employed to help her with research. She hopes to gather enough material for a book on the subject.

But the award of the grant has come under fire from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Spokesman Mark Milke said: "What? Strippers don't get 'studied' enough as it is?"