Morning:
14°c
Gangs of pimps leaving calling cards in phone boxes could have their mobile phones cut off to deter sex crime in the run-up to the Olympics.
Boris Johnson has called a meeting with major phone companies, BT and the police amid fears tourists will see a rise in prostitution and human trafficking. The aim is to target the gangs who control prostitution by advertising in phone boxes.
The Mayor wants to see mobile phone operators and the police take their numbers out of use.
Major sporting events are often linked to a surge in demand for prostitution, which in turn fuels human trafficking. At the Athens Olympics the number of human trafficking victims almost doubled.
Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor for policing, said: "In Athens, not only did the level of prostitution go up, but it stayed up. We don't want that legacy. Nothing is more important to a pimp or trafficker than money. We want to cut their access to cash and punters starting by ridding London of prostitute cards in telephone boxes.
"We want phone companies to make it difficult for the pimps and traffickers by barring them."
Although prostitution is legal, placing cards in phone boxes became an offence in 2001 - a change in which Mr Malthouse was heavily involved when he was a councillor in Westminster.
A meeting is expected to be held in October. A spokeswoman for O2 said the company "will be happy to discuss this issue".
Reader views (2)
A really well thought out idea, not. If I was a sex trade advertiser, I would merely issue a large number of cards with other ordinary peoples telephone numbers on them and just wait for the complaints and chaos when their telephones are cut off. If I was just someone who wanted to get my own back on someone else, I would do likewise.
- Seabee, Pinner UK
Why did it take the Olympic's to do this stuff?
- Gary, Brentwood
