SPY cameras are to be used to crack down on kerb crawlers as part of a new bid to reduce street prostitution in the Capital.
The city council has received £200,000 from the Scottish Government and plans to spend some of it on the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.
They will be placed discreetly in prostitution hot-spots and will log all the vehicles that visit them. The information gathered will alert officers to vehicles which are regularly in the area, and ultimately help them build up a case against kerb crawlers.
Officers have refused to reveal the locations being considered for the cameras and it is unclear exactly how the system will work, though they will have to ensure innocent residents are not wrongly targeted.
The initiative comes on the back of new laws brought in last year which made an offence out of "loitering" in a vehicle, with maximum fines of £1000. Persistent offenders can also have their cars confiscated.
ANPR cameras are already used to track stolen vehicles and cars used in crime and, unlike speed cameras, they are designed to go unnoticed. A police spokesman described them as an "extremely powerful policing tool".
But Ruth Morgan-Thomas, project manager at Scotpep, a support group for prostitutes, said: "We believe this will leave women more vulnerable by pushing them into more isolated areas.
"If they put these cameras up in one area it will just push the women to another one, because clients will not go there any more."
The bulk of the money awarded to the council will be aimed at helping women out of prostitution, rather than targeting the kerb crawlers.
A total of £166,000 is currently being offered to groups and initiatives aimed at helping street workers through prevention or education.
The deadline for bids will be the end of the month and it is hoped they will offer real hope to women who have been railroaded into the vice trade by drug addiction or poverty.
Councillor Paul Edie, the city's health, social care and housing leader, said:
"Last year's legislation surrounding kerb crawling has already made real progress in targeting those buying sex on the street and we recognise that enforcement measures are an essential part of the response to street prostitution.
"Alongside this enforcement a range of preventive and support services, and opportunities for the people involved in selling sex to make a living in other ways are also essential."
The funding has also been welcomed by Tom Wood, chairman of Action on Alcohol and Drugs Edinburgh.
He said: "Nearly all the women who are working as prostitutes in Edinburgh are doing so because they are funding a drug habit.
"This new money should help some of our most vulnerable members of society access relevant services and employment and help them find an exit from this life they currently lead."
•
www.scot-pep.org.uk•
www.actionalcoholdrugsedinburgh.org•
www.edinburgh.gov.uk