Instead the girls gather in TGI Fridays dressed in rather tamer outfits – tutus, tiaras and fluffy pink love hearts.

On the Friday night they arrive in the city they're considering going to see a male strip show at a nightclub. "Or maybe we'll save ourselves since we've got a big one lined up for tomorrow night anyway" she said. "And besides we have to get up tomorrow morning for a two hour lap dancing class."

The magnificent seven, aged 19 to 47, have journeyed down from Middlesborough drinking so much champagne on the train that when they finally got off at Leeds Station they forgot to tell the taxi driver the exact address of their hotel – so he took them to the wrong one.

Small wonder he made the mistake of assuming they would be staying at the Premier Inn just by Leeds inner ring road. Along with the Ibis opposite, it pulls in a constant convoy of stag and hen parties which take the well beaten path to their £49 weekend lodgings.

On a Friday night Wellington Street echoes to the sound of lairy revellers wheeling their suitcases from the station and come Sunday the hangover victims invariably wheel their cases back a good deal quieter than when they first came.

Of course there are now hundreds of rooms around Leeds offering budget prices, leading the way is Etap, offering rooms from as little as £35 a night, but there are countless others dotted around the city centre who've always targeted the previously developing market for stag and hen dos. Now it seems that market has boomed.

Forget Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle or Liverpool, according to the latest statistics Leeds is now the most popular English city for stag and hen dos after London, Brighton and Bath.

And part of the success is the fact that Leeds markets itself as a destination exceptionally well.

"We first read about it online," said Danielle, 25. "There was this thing called the party bus which you book and it takes you from place to place."

They seem even more enthused and a tad disappointed when I tell them they could have booked a pink stretch limo, a fire engine or even a tank to drive them round Leeds city centre.

Danielle said: "Well, anyway we didn't book that in the end but decided to come here anyway because there seemed to be loads of deals and stuff to do."

A quick surf of the internet confirms this. Now there are dozens of web sites dedicated to not only offering accommodation and suggestions but whole packages including everything from paintballing to health spa visits for anything from £130-200.

And ultimately we win in the reviews. For example one says that Liverpool remains a draw because "The Liverpudlians like a drink and a laugh" while Leeds is "A streetwise northern hotbed of sharp tastes and dry humour with a potent mixture of fun, class and a dollop of cheese."

The array of extra activities available is staggering – from masterclasses in salsa and Bollywood dancing to cheerleading and cocktail making. Most of which can be found elsewhere, so what sets Leeds apart?

Reputation

It seems it's our helpful location as well as our reputation as a top place to drink and club in.

"I've been before," said 24-year-old Charlotte Burke. "So I know it's a great night out and it's a trip away but at the same time it's not that far to come, we could have gone to Newcastle but it's too close to home."

Gemma Wilkinson, 29, added: "I've been too and had a brilliant time, plus I'm from Newcastle so going out there wouldn't have felt like anything special – so Leeds is just the next big place to come to really."

Both girls have sampled the delights of Oceana on Woodhouse Lane whose management openly admits that they rely on stag and hen dos for around 60 per cent of the door takings. A glance further along Woodhouse Lane on a Friday and Saturday night will confirm this is where people come to enjoy their last days of freedom.

Meanwhile on Boar Lane is one of the biggest pulls The Birdcage which is invariably crammed with hen and stag parties who come to enjoy the drag acts and the odd bit of pole dancing.

And if you want even more erotic entertainment on the edge of the main drag is City Square where there are plans to built a 10,000 ft lap dancing superclub – it's the ninth to pop up in the west end of Leeds.

On top of offering the ladies the chance to take tutorials (the Middlesborough crew are being taught by residents at Wildcats) stag do parties provide an even steadier clientele.

From the odd back street venue like The Purple Door the number of venues offering specialist entertainment has soared – now the list includes Direktors, the Red leopard, the Blue Leopard.

Interestingly it's a side of life in Leeds which flies in the face of our supposed mantle as a sophisticated destination for tourism and retail, more Soho than Knightsbridge – but the Middlesborough girls certainly don't seem to care.

"We're not going to be doing any shopping or sight-seeing when we're here anyway," said Danielle. "Why waste time we can spend drinking?"