Prostitute punters could be banned from driving in Ilford Lane
A sex worker talks to the police in Ilford. Picture: Ellena Cruse - Credit: Archant
In an innovative attempt to tackle prostitution in Ilford Lane, police are planning to disqualify punters from driving.
Speaking to the Recorder, tri-borough police commander for Redbridge, Havering and Barking and Dagenham, Jason Gwillim confirmed the Met were looking into banning kerb-crawlers after they had been found guilty in court.
“We are looking at where it has been done to see how they have gone about it,” he said,
“I haven’t heard of it being done in the Met before.
“It would only be applied post-conviction and would come in the form of some sort of Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).”
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The commander said that officers have seen “significant reductions” to the number of punters in Ilford Lane in recent weeks and said police are working with the local community and Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham councils to combat it.
“It has been different to past operations - it is more continuous to make sure it is sustained,” he added.
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“We have high visibility patrols and we have been engaging with the sex workers and offering them - through the local authority - alternatives to get out of that way of life.
“The idea is to divert individuals away from activity as well as focusing in on offenders that go down there - it’s about engaging with those people and letting them know we will be taking them to court.”
As well as disqualifying punters from the driving the Met said it has some more creative ideas in the pipeline to tackle prostitution on Ilford Lane.
