Soho has 'more fake prostitutes than real ones'

There are more fake prostitutes and drug dealers than real ones on the streets of Soho in London's West End, a senior police officer has claimed. Det Chief Supt Andy Rowell said that the once notorious area has been cleaned-up by police and the main danger now comes from con-artists targeting gullible foreign tourists and out-of-town visitors.

There are up to twice as many fake drug dealers as real ones – passing off boot polish or liquorice as cannabis, wax wrapped in foil as crack cocaine and aspirin pills, with the markings rubbed off on the side of a matchbox, as tablets. A clutch of around 15 fake prostitutes work by taking a "deposit for a room" then disappearing, or luring a punter into an alleyway where a male accomplice will relieve them of their cash.

Mr Rowell, the detective in charge of the area, said: "A lot of visitors are thinking in the past, and these days Soho has been cleaned-up. Yet hundreds of visitors from out of London come to Soho after the theatres have emptied looking for illegal after-hours activities."



He added: "Their image of Soho is sadly out-of-date. We are continuing to step up our efforts at clamping down on these types of crime and we've largely succeeded. Soho is now a safe place to come and enjoy yourself – but please don't come looking for drugs and prostitutes. You will almost certainly get something you didn't expect."

Half of the women consters are from Soho clip-joints that have been closed down in recent years. While prostitutes still work inside some premises, the ones on the street are almost all fake operators. Different teams of criminals travel up to Soho from various parts of London like Lambeth, Southwark and Camden.

Between 15 and 20 fake drug dealers target the area, mostly at weekends between 1 and 4 am. The crimes are normally not reported by the embarrassed victims.