Two held after police raid on Weymouth brothel

Officers were joined by immigration service officials in the swoop on the terraced house in Bath Street.

Around 15 Dorset Police officers sealed off both ends of the street after targeting the address at 2pm yesterday.

Two men, aged 51 and 32, were arrested and led away by police.

Weymouth Massage and Escort Services operates a website offering the services of several girls from Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Japan at the Bath Street address.

The brothel has been dubbed by neighbours as the ‘worst kept secret in Weymouth’.

Residents of the have been calling for the police to close down the brothel – describing it as a ‘discredit for the whole road’.

They say the brothel has been raided before and changed premises - moving from a terraced house one side of Bath Street, to a house on the opposite side of the road.

Resident Tracy Hutton, said: "I’ve had blokes knock on my door in the middle of the night asking if my house is a brothel – it has happened three times.

"It’s not constant hassle we get but something should be done about - it’s not right in this day and age."

Another long-suffering neighbour Sue Devaney, who has a 17-year-old daughter, said: "It’s the punters that cause the main problems.

"I’ve had them knocking on my door at all hours. It can be quite scary - quite worrying as a mum."

Another resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: "This place has been raided loads of times but it always re-opens again.

“Mark my words they’ll be up and running again within hours."

Landlord of a house on Bath Street Steve Vitali said he welcomes police attention on the house and has been calling for the brothel to close for months.

He said that having it operating on his road has caused the neighbourhood to take ‘a turn for the worse’.

“The area has declined and we are seeing more and more waifs and strays hanging around,” he said.

“They’re not only visiting the brothel but some people openly deal drugs in the road and sell on dodgy gear.

“Part of the reason that the area has declined so much is that there is now so much social housing in one place. I’m having trouble renting my place out because of the perception of this road.”

“The brothel being there causes a discredit for the whole road.”

He added: “The brothel came to the street about three years ago and really I want to see it gone.”

Another resident, who wished not to be named, said the brothel has attracted groups of men queuing in the street, late night violence and vandalism.

He said: “If councillors and police officers had a brothel operating next to them would more be done to close it.”

Neighbours reported seeing at least six men a day visit the house and stay for about half an hour each time.

Angry residents protesting about the brothel recently staged a red light protest in their front rooms for a few nights to make their point about the road turning into a red light district.

She said: “I am delighted the police have done something at long last – it has begun to seem like no-one wants to listen anymore. Even the council haven’t listened, surely under planning laws running a business from home with light stickers, a flashing guitar and a Mickey Mouse in the window is a blatant violation of what one may or not do to a Grade II listed house.”

A Dorset Police spokesman confirmed police and immigration officers had executed a warrant at an address in Bath Street and confirmed that two people had been arrested.

The operation was led by the Weymouth safer neighbourhood team acting after a series complaints by residents.

Melcombe Regis beat officer PC Mike Green will now liaise with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council today about the property in Bath Street. A woman who was on the premises during the raid was found to have legitimate residency in the UK.

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency have confirmed that they were involved in the raid where two males were arrested.

He added that an investigation into their legal status is ongoing.