Residents Group Publishes Kerb Crawlers’ Car Number Plates on Social Media

Locals in Leeds say crime has soared in area despite the scrapping of a scheme that made sex work legal in the area in a UK first.

Women stand in The Blade area of Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Fed-up residents living in a former legal red-light district in Britain are using social media to shame kerb crawlers.

Pictures of punters vehicles—along with registration plates—are being uploaded to social media by Leeds inner-city locals who say “predatory men” soliciting sex are leaving women and children in fear.

The group claims a former initiative, which made Holbeck the first area in the UK where sex work was legal, has actually left the streets “less safe,” despite the scheme being scrapped two years ago.

Managed Approach—backed by Leeds City Council—began in 2014 and allowed sex workers to operate freely between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Advocates said the innovative methods would provide much-needed support for sex workers.

However, a year after its launch, a Polish sex worker was murdered in the so-called managed prostitution area.

Diara Pionko, 21, died in hospital after being found with serious injuries on Springwell Road in Holbeck.

She had been attacked by 24-year-old Lewis Pierre, who was later sentenced to 22 years in prison for her murder.

The scheme was eventually shut down in 2021 after years of “tireless” campaigning by locals including residents group Save Our Eyes.

Rise in Crime

The group claims crime has soared in the Holbeck and Beeston Hill areas since the scrapping of the scheme, with claims girls have been followed by men in cars.

There have also been reports of thefts carried out by prostitutes, including the attempted mugging of an elderly lady inside a local church.

Another member claimed to have been robbed of cash as they were handing over money for food inside a take-away.

Used needles and condoms are also being left on the streets where residents “and their children” are witnessing sex acts.

The group has now taken to social media to out those soliciting prostitutes by publishing pictures of their vehicles and number plates.

Save Our Eyes also runs a tongue-in-cheek “Punter of the Week” award shaming regular visitors to sex workers in the area.

The Facebook posts include the warning: “Remember that if you come kerb crawling in Holbeck you are deemed to have consented to have your details published and should expect a visit from the police.”

Red-Light ‘Legacy’

In a joint letter to police and the council last year, Save Our Eyes, along with another group Voice of Holbeck, said that while there had been a reduction in prostitution since the scheme ended, locals were still “living with the legacy” of the legal red-light zone.

“Every day residents and their children still witness soliciting, sex acts and find used condoms in the streets,” the letter said.

“This is accompanied by the relentless kerb crawlers and men who roam the street on foot looking for women to buy sex from.

“The zone made the residents of Holbeck far less safe as it drew predatory men from a wide area into Holbeck looking for sex.”

The letter said that there around 30 sex workers were working around shops and a community centre “which draws predators into the residential streets and into contact with local women and children.”

It added that residents said the ending of the scheme should have been advertised nationwide as “predators” had been travelling to the area from all over the UK.

“We believe that further efforts could be made to publicise the risks of kerb crawling in Holbeck to the predators who attend the area.

“We need to ensure that predatory men are treated the same way in Holbeck that they would be in other parts of Leeds.”

The groups suggested the introduction of Public Space Protection Orders in Leeds to curtail the kerb crawling.

They also said an increase in police numbers would help tackle the issues.

The Epoch Times contacted the group on Wednesday, but no one was available to comment on the issues raised.

A number of councillors for the area were also contacted about the residents’ concerns.

Scheme ‘Should Stay’

In 2020, an independent review of the Managed Approach scheme recommended it stayed in place.

“There are currently no alternative models or approaches that promise to be more effective and which fit within existing UK law on sex working,” it stated.

The report (pdf) tracked the development of the initiative from its introduction in 2014 with few resources, through the introduction of the dedicated reporting phone number, the intensive cleansing regime, and the dedicated policing team in October 2018.

Alongside these resources, the report recognises the increasing input from and engagement from residents.

Researchers spoke to key agencies and organisations in the area, as well as many residents at various “Listening Well” events.

They reported that 70 percent of residents they spoke to agreed that: “The Managed Approach should remain but needed to change in some way.”

Professor Jason Roach, who led the review, said residents recognised progress but didn’t associate that progress with the approach itself.

He said: “The penultimate question was always: Do you think things have got better over the last 6-8 months? To which most people would say yes. The last question was: Should the Managed Approach stay? No.”

He summed up residents’ views as, “Things have got better, but we just don’t want on street sex working in Holbeck.”