A petition calling for action to remove prostitutes Ilford Lane has been launched by residents of a block of council flats.

Neighbours at Claire House, Ilford Lane, said women could be seen working outside the front of the building every evening.

Resident Drita Lushaj said the activity made residents feel threatened, accusing prostitutes of “doing rude gestures”, fighting, buying drugs and shouting.

“We are family people with children who are being exposed to these actions every night,” she said.

In a letter to the council, Ms Lushaj claimed used condoms had also been left inside the building.

She said residents wanted prostitutes to be banned from Claire House and the borough.

In a joint statement, Redbridge Council and Redbridge Police reassured residents they were working to tackle the issue.

“We know that prostitution has a huge impact on residents living locally and we sympathise with resident,” it said.

“Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution as this an extremely complex problem and while we’ve worked tirelessly over the last few years, we know there is still work to be done.

“We have noticed an increase in the number of prostitutes operating in the area recently which is in part due to expected seasonal fluctuations and are currently working closely with our partners to agree a range of options to address this.”

The statement said new measures included funding extra police patrols in the area, arresting kerb crawlers and using CCTV to catch people engaging with sex workers and send them warning letters.