A COMMUNITY leader who backed residents' successful fight to close down a brothel today said he was disgusted at government plans to legalise them.

But other residents who have lived near brothels in East Lancashire disagreed with comments of Darwen councillor Roy Davies --and said it was better to get prostitutes off the streets and behind closed doors.

The Home Office yesterday revealed proposals to change the law so that two prostitutes and a receptionist can legally work in brothels in a bid to protect the women's safety.

In Darwen, a brothel at the Riverside Business Units, Pitville Street, was closed down last summer after complaints by a number of residents who said they were sickened by what was happening at the end of their quiet terraced street.

And in early 2005 a madam who ran a brothel in Briercliffe Road, Burnley, was ordered to pay back more than £80,000 she made from the venture. However under the new laws police would have been powerless to put a stop to either brothel, despite there being concerns by residents on both occasions.

Coun Davies said: "I think the new laws are frightening.

"If there was a brothel next door to me I would not be happy about it.

"The brothel in Pitville Street was closed down due to complaints by residents, but now there would be nothing they could do."

Sylvia Bramfit, of the Burnley Lane Residents' Association in Burnley, agreed. She said: "We do have problems with prostitutes in this area, but I would not want to see a brothel near me, it should be completely illegal.

"I don't want to see prostitutes and their clients walking in and out of a flat at all hours, people parking and clogging up the streets and maybe men walking into the wrong house. It is totally wrong."

However, Edward Langley, 55, who lives two doors up from the where the Pitville Street brothel was, said: "I never had any problems from the brothel.

"I think they should be allowed if they are controlled and registered.

"There will always be prostitution and this will keep people off the streets."

And Carole Barber, of Albert Street, Burnley, added: "We have had problems round here in the past, but if girls can work from houses, in the right sort of area, then I am all for that. Prostitution is never going to go away, but it does need to be properly regulated."

The proposal will have to get the backing of Parliament to become law.

Lancashire's Acting Assistant Chief Constable, Mike Cunningham, backed the proposals and said: "We are aware of the Government's proposal that up to three prostitutes working together is safer and could be made legal under suggested changes to current legislation. However, we would wish to seek further guidance and clarification as to how this would be managed by all the agencies concerned."

Niki Adams, a spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes, said she was in favour of women working together safely. She added: "The priority has to be protection, not prosecution."