A COUNCILLOR’S suggestion street signs should be put up in areas prostitution is a problem left her colleagues bemused.

A report presented to councillors at a Neighbourhoods and Community Services meeting, on Thursday last week revealed in 2014, 70 street cautions were handed out to sex workers, five with UK Border Agency (UKBA) letters, 10 dispersals were issued and two men were prosecuted for soliciting sex.

It added eight of the 15 known brothels in Slough have been closed and of the remaining seven, three have landlords going to court.

Nikki Pierce, Slough’s neighbourhood inspector, said: “We’ve been quite robust looking at brothels and landlords alongside the workers.” Measures being used to combat prostitution include ASBOs, warning letters to kerb crawlers as a result of CCTV intelligence which can lead to prosecution, and working with the UKBA to serve letters to Romanian sex workers. The report adds the Sex Workers Action Group (SWAG) is another initiative that provides help by engaging sex workers with outreach workers such as medical staff, as well as the police.

Police say the number of sex workers in Slough has dropped, however, add it could be a result of more sex workers using their own premises.

Farnham Road has emerged as a hotspot with residents making complaints. Police say they are working with brothels in the road.

It was also said cameras on the road do not appear to be a deterrent.

Cllr Ishrat Shah, Labour, representing Farnham, suggested signs should be put up as a warning to sex workers and kerb crawlers that their behaviour will not be tolerated.

The proposal was knocked back by both councillors and police officers.

Cllr Shah also requested a daily update on the situation to feed back to the residents she represents.

However, Superintendent Simon Bowden, Slough police commander, said: “We don’t have the resources.

“Providing that information would mean taking officers off the beat.” Councillors agreed that this was an unrealistic expectation.