THREE Romanian women are to be deported following the discovery of two brothels at separate locations in Swindon.

Police and immigration officers went to houses in Valleyside, off Kingshill, and Stafford Street, off Eastcott Road, at around 8.45pm on Thursday and arrested the women on suspicion of immigration-related offences.

Three Romanian women, aged 18, 21 and 28, were detained at the address in Valleyside for, according to the Home Office, “failing to exercise their treaty rights as required by EU law”.

All three women had been advertising sex work online via a website called adultworks.

Police say they were very open about their sex work and confirmed the profiles on adultworks were their own, which they had set up and paid for.

All three women are to be transferred to an immigration centre and deported back to Romania.

Two of the three women had been visited by Wiltshire Police’s HEET (Human Exploitation and Emerging Threats) team in April 2017 and given warnings about operating a brothel. Despite the warnings the sex work continued.

At an address in Stafford Street, Immigration Enforcement officers encountered another Romanian woman, aged 30, and a Romanian man, 33. Both will be served paperwork warning them that they have to demonstrate they are exercising their EU treaty rights or face being removed from the UK.

Det Supt Craig Holden, head of public protection and force lead for adult sexual exploitation, said: “This is a very positive outcome as the women are now safe and away from their clients and are no longer vulnerable to the risks of off-street sex work.

“This good work was a result of intelligence we received from residents – the brothel is no longer operational which will reassure those in the community and shows that we will take action against this kind of behaviour in residential areas.

One resident of Stafford Street was shocked to hear that such activity was taking place. Pensioner Margaret Masters, who was unaware of police activity on her street, said: “You don’t really expect things like that to go on, it’s very surprising.”

Det Supt Holden added: “Wiltshire Police will continue to work hard to make sure that any cases of human exploitation are prioritised so offenders are caught and the victims removed to safety.”

If you suspect suspicious activity in your area, call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where details can be left anonymously.