Some of the best stories come from tip offs and this was a classic example. A colleague was passing by when this police raid took place. It was a quiet residential street in the heart of the town and we had done a story just days before about the couple’s dog. It turned out they were running a brothel and the neighbours had no clue.

POLICE have arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of running a brothel in a residential area of Scarborough.

Twenty-two officers swooped on a house in Rothbury Street, off Gladstone Road, yesterday.

Two women were believed to be at the house when the officers arrived.

A man and a woman who turned up some time later were then arrested and taken to Scarborough Police station.

Det Sgt Paul Thompson, of Scarborough CID, confirmed they had executed a search warrant in connection with the workings of an alleged brothel. He said: “The investigation relates to running a brothel and also living off immoral earnings.

“There will be other charges we will be considering in relation to this and all will come out in due course. Whatever your views are on brothels, it is against the law to run one.”

Apart from members of Scarborough CID, the raid team included financial investigators and members of the neighbourhood policing team.

Neighbours said they were shocked after they saw two marked police vans arrive at the scene at about 2pm and a large number of officers go into the house.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: “When the vans turned up, they just came down the street so quietly as if the engines were turned off, as though they were free-wheeling.

“They all jumped out and charged in, and that was it. Later on they brought two people out, a man and woman.

“They took him out and put him in a van. A couple of minutes later, she was taken out and put into a van too.”

Det Sgt Thompson said a 41-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman were arrested at the scene in relation with the management of the premises.

They were being interviewed at Scarborough Police Station while the search continued.

From the Scarborough Evening News on Friday, June 22, 2007.