SEX workers have fled the red light district in Ipswich to ply their trade in Norwich.Following the killings of five women in December support workers in Norwich have said they regularly encounter girls who used to work in Ipswich, but now feel more comfortable working in the city instead.

SEX workers have fled the red light district in Ipswich to ply their trade in Norwich.

Following the killings of five women in December support workers in Norwich have said they regularly encounter girls who used to work in Ipswich, but now feel more comfortable working in the city instead.

And prostitutes in Ipswich also said the killings have led to a new type of customer - the prostitute tourist - where men come from across the country to ask details about the girls and their deaths.

Norfolk police confirmed sex workers not previously known to them are now working in Norwich's red light areas and while officers continued to target kerb crawlers, they also said they were trying to divert young women away from prostitution and towards agencies which could help them get out of the cycle of drug addiction and selling sex.

In a crime which shocked the nation, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Annette Nicholls, Paula Clennell and Anneli Alderton were all found killed within a few weeks of each other in November.

Steve Wright, 48, who used to run the Ferry Boat pub, in King Street, Norwich, has since been charged with the deaths and is awaiting trial.

Immediately after the killings, prostitutes had been less willing to operate in Norwich for fear of being targeted themselves.

However, it is believed the number of girls on city streets at night has now returned to normal levels.

Since the deaths, officers from Suffolk Police and Ipswich Borough Council said they had been working hard to engage with prostitutes and offer them reassurance and support.

However, one Ipswich sex worker said the increased police presence was a reason girls were moving from the town to Norwich.

She said: “Police are clamping down on us and kerb crawlers but the hard core are still out there. They are not coming off the streets and some of them are going to Norwich.

“They are getting the train and if they score there they stay. The girls cannot give up their jobs at the end of the day. They do not have any other way. They are not going to get that sort of money anywhere else.”

Hannah Beesley, community safety officer at Ipswich Borough Council, denied prostitutes were being displaced because of feeling scared or through a tougher stance.

She said the council and police were working hard to engage the prostitutes in the area and offer them reassurance and support and added many of the girls are still working in Ipswich.

n Are you a prostitute who has moved from Ipswich to Norwich to work the streets? Contact The Evening Star news desk on 01473 324789 or email starnews@eveningstar.co.uk