A BLACKBURN prostitute has been banned from her 'patch', thanks to a landmark legal ruling obtained by Lancashire Constabulary. The Anti-Social Behaviour Order imposed on Roxanne Clayton is being heralded as they way forward in policing prostitutes.

Crime reporter IAN SINGLETON investigates whether the punishment will prove effective or just move the problem elsewhere. . .

NO one wants to live in a street where prostitutes tout for business.

And Roxanne Clayton's ASBO means that residents of an area of Blackburn town centre bounded by Montague Street, Oakenhurst Road, Sunnyhurst Road, George Street West, Pump Street, Whalley Banks and King Street may not have to for much longer.

The order bans her from those streets. A breach could see her jailed for five years, much more of a deterrent than the £50 fine given for loitering for the purpose of prostitution.

And police have vowed to use the same legal move to ban other working girls from the area.

But, while it is widely acknowledged that the ASBO has the potential to be effective, there are concerns that the prostitutes will merely move to another area.

Stephen Parker, defending Clayton at Blackburn magistrates, claimed in court that police were effectively offering to turn a blind eye.

As well as banning her from the Bank Top area, police wanted the order to ban her from "working" between 5pm and 8pm. Magistrates refused and Mr Parker said: "The police are saying they will leave these girls alone if they don't work between certain hours and in a certain area.

"They don't seem to want to stop Roxanne Clayton working as a prostitute as long as she does it where they want her to."

Police have worked hard over the past couple of years at tackling the prostitution in that residential area of town.

Their patrols, work with the residents and support given to the prostitutes to help them change their lifestyles were partly responsible for a 500 per cent increase in arrests for kerb crawling last year, up from 11 to 71 - more than in Greater Manchester.

Sgt Phil Davies, in charge of Blackburn town centre policing, which includes prostitution, said the ASBO should prove effective at keeping prostitutes out of residential areas.

He added: "You are not going to get rid of prostitution. It has been going on in Blackburn for 100 years. It has moved around town, but is still not far from where it started.

"The courts only have two powers for dealing with prostitution at the moment - a £50 fine or a discharge.

"All they do is get an extra punter to pay the fine. A number of the women would also get involved with shoplifting to feed their drugs habits.

"We have to look a the overall balance. We would rather they were in an industrial estate where they are not doing harm than stealing from Debenhams during the day or being in a residential area.

"We have to manage these problems. We don't approve of prostitution anywhere but Blackburn has a red light district and we are stuck with that for the time being.

"Prostitution is a complex issue that has many different aspects to it.

"In court it is often said to be a victimless crime, but quite often the men are victims and the woman and residents certainly are.

"If you put every police officer on arresting prostitutes one week they would still come out again.

"The ASBO allows us to control the anti-social aspect of that problem."

The officers in Blackburn are taking advantage of a landmark legal ruling obtained by their counterparts in Preston.

In late 2002 their application to use an ASBO to stop a prostitute working the city's streets was rejected by magistrates because the legislation was designed to control unruly teenagers.

But police appealed the High Court and successfully had that decision overturned late last year, creating a legal precedent which police across East Lancashire and across the country are set to take advantage of.

In Preston, officers' hard work never came to fruition as the woman involved had turned away from prostitution during the protracted court process.

Therefore 20-year-old Clayton, thought to be the second prostitute in the country to be given an ASBO, is somewhat of a national experiment.

Sgt Davies said if it proved successful, police would apply to the courts for more ASBOs.

He added: "We went for the ASBO because a couple have continued in residential areas and we had to prove to others that we would stop them doing that.

"We kept finding Roxanne there and we had to show there was some legal force to it.

"Potentially, we would apply for others if they continually breach in residential areas. We have to protect the residents."