A FORMER escort girl who admitted running three high-class brothels has walked free from court.

Karen Williamson, 50, had been warned in court in April she would "very likely" be jailed, but Judge Phillip Clegg instead handed her a three-month suspended sentence and 200 hours community work.

Williamson, a 50-year-old mother-of-two who now lives in Spain, was caught out when police called at one of her brothels at Beaver Tower, Eastwood, and were greeted by a prostitute wearing only bra and knickers.

When police searched the premises, known as First Class, they found sex paraphernalia including lubricants, condoms and fantasy outfits such as nurses, air hostesses, schoolgirls and French maid uniforms.

It later emerged Williamson ran two other sex-selling operations: Allures, in Commodore House, Timberlog Lane, Basildon; and Obsession, in Cavendish Gardens, Chelmsford. Similar sex aids were found at these premises.

Judge Clegg told Williamson - who paid tax and had registered the business as a brothel with the Inland Revenue - he had received statements from two prostitutes who thanked her for providing a safe place to work.

He said: "It would appear that many years ago, you found yourself on your own with two children and with no means of support, so you went into the escort business.

"You obviously had business acumen and you made a success of it. Shortly after that, the business, which gives rise to these proceedings, took off.

"You started with one house and then ended up with three. It is quite apparent that all three brothels were run in a very hygienic way and to a very high standard.

"There was no element of coercion, no element of recruitment or corruption. There was no preying on illegal immigrants or any vulnerable people of that nature."

Donna Williams, 37, a resident of Beaver Tower, said the brothel did not cause any problems to its neighbours in the block of flats.

She told the Echo: "To be honest, it was a bit of a running joke. The customers were quite upmarket and well-to-do.

"You would get all these big posh cars in the car park like BMWs and Mercedes and you knew why they were there.

"We never had any problems with the girls who worked there or the people who ran it. If there had been, we would have done something about it."

Williamson now faces a financial investigation into the assets she acquired from her illegal business.