TWO people have appeared in court after they were caught by police running a brothel in a quiet residential street.

Tony Lester and Vicki Stansfield were arrested after police raided A13 Bliss in Carlton Drive, a dead-end road just off Kiln Road, Thundersley, last November.

Neighbours had handed a petition to Castle Point MP Bob Spink complaining about the brothel, which had been operating for two years.

He took the issue to the House of Commons where he tabled a petition demanding action to close the den.

Nearby residents were also fed up with punters, who were clogging up the quiet cul-de-sac with their cars when they paid a visit to the prostitutes.

But the owners have now appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court where they pleaded guilty to running the brothel on the ground floor of the house between November, 2007 and November, 2009.

Lester, 30, also pleaded guilty to possessing six grammes of cannabis.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she was aware people had made complaints about what was going on at the house.

She said: “Everyone knows it’s there. You don’t really see anyone coming in and out. It’s just a normal house, so it was a bit of a shock when I found out. I didn’t expect any of that to go on around here.

“It hasn’t caused problems for me personally. People’s main gripe was that the punters were taking up parking spaces.”

Lester was ordered to pay a £100 fine and £15 victim surcharge for possessing the cannabis.

He and 32-year-old Stansfield both gave the address of the brothel as their home.

They have have now been released on bail until they are sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on April 7.