A NOTORIOUS brothel that has been plaguing Pitsea families for months has been shut down.
Residents have described how men would knock on their doors late at night looking for sex.
The family living next door could hear what was going on inside the terraced house in Partridge Green.
Police raided the brothel in November and arrested two women, however, problems got worse.
On Friday, PC Marek Jaworski obtained a closure order from magistrates, banning anyone entering the property.
PC Jaworski said: “It’s disappointing that since we executed the warrant in November, the problem got worse for residents.
“The brothel causedamassive disruption to their quality of life.
“Families have had men banging on their doors in the middle of the night looking for the brothel, men talking about sex in the street and the family next door could hear what was going on in the property.
“The other concerning element was this was going on a few yards from the Basildon Academies.
“I am delighted the court has granted this order and hopefully residents can regain some quality of life.”
Pc Marek Jaworski pins the closure order to the door of the brothel in Partridge Green, Pitsea
During the closure hearing at Basildon Magistrates’ Court, the court heard from Partridge Green residents about problems the brothel caused.
Officers from the Pitsea Neighbourhood Policing Team executed a warrant at the property on November 21, last year
Sarah Westacott, 37, said: “I lived opposite the property.
We heard shouting in the street and men talking about what they had done in the brothel.
“It caused my six-year-old to ask me what a whore was.
“It made me reluctant to take my kids to play in the street, because we did not know who would be hanging around.”
The Echo accompanied Essex Police on the raid of the brothel. This one of the bedrooms.
Another bedroom used by prostitutes at the brothel to entertain clients
The house's living room was converted in to a client waiting area that doubled as a bedroom
A client "price-list" left on one of the beds
Entrance to the brothel
Mienesh Patel, who manages the property on behalf of the landlord, said he was made aware the house was operating as a brothel in November.
He did not evict the prostitutes, who are from Romania, because he did not want to make them homeless for Christmas.
Speaking after the hearing, he said: “This is all a misunderstanding caused by a lack of communication.
“I am very sorry to the residents of Partridge Green this has been going on.
“We will now be looking for new tenants for the property and will ensure they are properly checked so nothing like this can happen again.”
Essex Police boarded up the property on Friday night.
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