Leeds 'legal red light district' explained - how the managed approach works in Holbeck

Those behind the scheme have been reluctant in the past to discuss the finer details of the controversial scheme and how it operates on a day-to-day basis, but here's what we do know about it.

What is the 'managed approach'?

The 'managed approach' allows street sex workers to ply for trade without fear of arrest, in a particular area of Leeds within agreed hours.

It aims to:

1. Reduce the problems caused by street prostitution to residents and businesses

2. Better engage with street sex workers to improve their safety and health, with a view to enabling them to exit this way of life

3. Reduce the prevalence of street sex working in Leeds

When did it begin?

The scheme was introduced as a 12-month pilot back in October 2014 by the community safety partnership Safer Leeds - a group which includes Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Police.

It attracted national media attention following the murder of sex worker Daria Pionko in December 2015. Originally from Poland, the 23-year-old lived in Leeds with her boyfriend and was a sex worker in the Holbeck area of the city.

How does it work?

The rules of the 'managed approach' are kept under review, with the current rules being:

1. No offences will be tolerated at any time within residential areas

2. No offences will be tolerated between 6am and 8pm

3. No offences will be tolerated outside businesses which are operating

4. Drug use, trafficking, organised crime and coercion will at no time be tolerated

5. Crime, public order and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated

6. Indecency will not be tolerated at any time

When it began, Safer Leeds said a 'three strikes’ policy meant rule-breakers would get a warning for a first breach, a caution for a second and be arrested for a third infringement.

Four police officers and PCOS were also assigned to a