Isle of Dogs home hit in "sex and drug club" raid

The club was described by police as "a place where sex and drugs were freely available". Its "affluent clientele" were offered sex for between £200 and £250 at the club, or for £250 to £300 at a hotel, but also had to purchase a bottle of house Champagne charged at £135 for the hotel "service". Cocaine was available at the club on request.

DI John Anderson said: "It's hard to believe that in the middle of a well-known area like Goodge Street, these shady dealings were blatantly going on.

"This type of criminal activity is a nuisance and a blight on the community who live and work in the area.

"Now this club has been shut down, the prostitution that went on has ceased and those running the club have lost a lucrative and immoral source of income."

As part of the operation run by the Met's Clubs and Vice Unit, detectives from the Metropolitan Police were joined by Camden Police and the Dogs Units on raids to several addresses thought to belong to suspects.

A total of £24,000 and "a quantity of drugs" was found at un-named addresses in the Isle of Dogs and Bow, while a 44-year-old man was arrested in Holloway and a 55-year-old in Stansted. A woman in her fifties was arrested in Mitcham and a 49-year-old woman in Hendon.

Several wraps of cocaine and £2,000 in cash was seized from the club, and three men were arrested inside. A knife and a knuckleduster were found outside in a car.

Police say the client base was largely made up of City and white collar workers, and that the girls hailed from countries such as France, Portugal, Brazil, Albania, Jamaica and the UK.

Workers paid a percentage of their fee to the club, and profits ran into thousands of pounds a week.

Police are interviewing 18 woman, aged in their 20s and 30s, who are believed to have worked at the club. They will be offered support services.