Hannah Somerville and Kamal Sultan. For years Ilford Lane has been infamous for kerb-crawling and on-street prostitution and was subject to a week crackdown by police in Since February a fresh wave of complaints from residents have been recorded by authorities, with all those present agreeing the problem had never truly gone away. Tempers flared up several times during the meeting at Al Madina Mosque in Victoria Road, with Mrs Hodge at one point urging attendees to "turn the temperature down".
She said: "We shouldn't have had to be here today. I'm really sorry. The police did a brilliant job two years ago so it's very worrying that we have had to come back. Between and April this year police have issued 68 prostitute cautions to sex workers in Ilford Lane.
And since a public spaces protection order PSPO was introduced last year, fines have also been issued to people seeking to buy sex in the borough. Chief Inspector Lisa Butterfield, part of the Met's safer neighbourhoods team in Barking and Dagenham, said: "This is a long-term problem.
What we learned from is that we can't have a quick fix and walk away, because it doesn't get rid of it; it will come back. We ask the girls if they have been exploited or trafficked into the country. But if they aren't talking to us they leave us with nothing else than to deal with it under the law. Five dedicated police officers, some uniformed and some in plain clothes, are now set to patrol in Ilford Lane from 9am to 3am every night of the week.
A supplementary team of 10 officers will also be spread across other known hotspots in the area, with the possibility of funding being secured later for more. Redbridge Council leader Jas Athwal told attendees: "The police do a fantastic job but there are not enough of them. Officers from Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge Councils have been tasked with identifying new locations where CCTV, lighting or fencing might help to "design out" some of the issues.
