YOUR SWINDON YOUR VERDICT: This is the first major survey into what Adver readers really think of the key issues affecting our town. More than 880 readers responded. In the fifth of a series of special reports Tamash Lal investigates after most Swindonians said a legalised brothel is needed in the town

An overwhelming majority of townsfolk say a legalised brothel is needed to save our streets from being plagued by prostitutes.

Sixty-three per cent of respondents to our survey see the world's oldest profession as a fact of life.

Making it legal would, they say, yield dividends to communities weary of their seedy reputation.

Nearly 35 per cent disagreed, while two per cent gave no answer.

The findings were welcomed by town centre councillor Michael Dickinson (Con, Central). He has repeatedly called for a tolerance zone.

"Vice has been around for so long that I would be interested to see how anyone could possibly get rid of it," he said.

"We must find other ways of dealing with it. I have called for a managed zone, and if someone wanted to open a brothel there I think we should be prepared look at it."

The finding comes as the prostitution debate heats up, fuelled by groundbreaking plans for a tolerance zone in Liverpool.

City councillors are lobbying for a legal shake-up to pave the way for a managed sector.

However, the city's police chief believes the scheme will never come to fruition for one simple reason no one wants street girls on their doorstep.

Interestingly however, Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe appears to back views here in Swindon, saying licensed brothels are a preferable option.

Bona fide brothels would at least mean the police, health and care workers would know where to find vulnerable girls, he says.

But Swindon police were less enthusiastic.

Inspector Ian Bamber is well aware of the problem his patch includes the vice hotspots of Manchester Road, Broad Street and County Road.

He has always been sceptical of calls for a designated zone in the borough, and is unmoved by the survey results.

Insp Bamber is also un fazed by the 'but it's worked in Amsterdam' argument.

"You cannot simply deal with this problem by moving it somewhere else," he said. "Prostitutes become prostitutes for a variety of reasons, and unfortunately many are involved in drugs," he said.

"Holland has a very different culture to the UK, and I would be wary about drawing comparisons."

And the results failed to impress John McCue, of anti-vice campaign group Street Watch.

"I just wonder how many of the 63 per cent who want a brothel would like it next to them," said Mr McCue, who works with the police to monitor vice activity.

"It attracts highly undesirable people into the community.

"And how would you ensure the girls used a brothel?"