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‘Council profits from brothels’
A POLICE officer has accused Camden Council of profiting from prostitution because of the high licence fees it charges for massage parlours, which can be thinly disguised brothels.
The source told the New Journal that many vice squad officers felt Town Hall licensing needed to be revamped and that council’s should work closer with police to hit the sex trade.
Speaking anonymously, he said: “The Town Hall raises thousands of pounds a year by licensing massage parlours and it is a fact that a number of them are used to sell sex. “
This means the Town Hall is making money out of prostitution. We need much stronger investigating teams made up of both council and police officers to get into these places and find out exactly what goes on behind closed doors.
“There are a number of places in Camden that we know work as brothels and behind each door is a terrible story. The women working in these places are abused and treated abominably. It is no good turning a blind eye.”
Th parlours should now be the centre of a concerted campaign to hit the vice trade in Camden, according to Regent’s Park ward Labour Councillor Theo Blackwell.
Currently Camden has 10 licensed parlours – who pay a fee of around £4,500 a year to the Town Hall – and officers say they are aware of a further three that are not licensed.
And now Cllr Moffitt has pledged to see what the council can do to monitor massage parlours more stringently and make sure they are not selling sex to customers. |
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