BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw today said legalised brothels were not the answer to solving the town's prostitution problem.

The Foreign Secretary was responding to the claims of a leading councillor from the borough who claimed they were the only long-term solution.

Coun Andy Kay, in charge of regeneration and the borough's community safety partnership, said legalised brothels would provide a safer environment for prostitutes, allowing agencies to target them with help.

He was responding to complaints from shopkeepers that prostitutes were tarnishing Blackburn's image by working near the King Street gateway, which had £250,000 spent on it to welcome people to town.

The prostitutes had moved to outside businesses in Whalley Banks after a successful police operation forced them out of a nearby residential area in Bank Top, which had long been known as a red light district.

But Mr Straw said he discussed these problems at his recent surgery in the town -- and the possibility of a legalised brothel.

He added: "Most people were against the idea. I am against it too.

"I think it is appalling that women should have to sell their bodies. While there are arguments for it, there are also arguments against.

"We have always had prostitution, and I suppose we always will. Would brothels remove the nuisance? I am not sure they would.

"Legalised brothels can make things worse in some areas. I think they would make the situation worse and not better."

Brothels are currently against the Sexual Offences Act 1956, so opening them legitimately would require a change in the law.

The English Collective of Prostitutes, a national group campaigning for the de-criminalisation of prostitution, has also raised doubts that controlled, legalised brothels would work.

A spokeswoman said they would force anyone not working in the brothels further underground.