ILLEGAL brothels springing up in Crewe have been issued a warning by police and councillors.

Sex workers and their clients have been spotted operating out of houses in side streets in the Alexandra area of Crewe, away from Nantwich Road and Edleston Road, where they had traditionally operated.

And residents sick of the constant stream of men visiting the brothels have decided to take action, and are keeping records of their number plates to help the police.

Cllr Dorothy Flude, speaking after Thursday's Alexandra Community Action Meeting, which saw more than 40 homeowners meet to tackle the problem, said that residents in the ward do not want the sex trade on their doorsteps.

She added: 'When these sorts of establishments begin to move into residential areas, there is a risk they will turn into red light districts.

'There have always been brothels on Nantwich Road and Edleston Road, but they are above shops, not next door to people's houses.'

Cllr Flude said that she feared some of the women have been brought to the UK from abroad and are being coerced into working in the sex trade. PC Rob Lees, Community Officer for the ward, said 'We are running covert operations to try to hit the people who are running the brothels, rather than the girls themselves.

'But our message is simply this - stop. We will not tolerate these activities in our ward, and we will come down hard on anyone we find to be illegally running these operations.'