MARCHMONT BROTHEL REVEALED

SquareOne News

by Katie Smyth

Residents of Edinburgh's Southside have reacted with mixed feeling to the confirmation that a local sauna is a front for brothel.

The New Gentle Touch of Argyle Place, Marchmont poses as a massage parlour but its main trade is in prostitution. "We have the sauna and of course we do sex, £50 for a half hour, £70 for an hour," the proprietor, who wished to remain anonymous, told SquareOne.

Her statement ends years of conjecture which have surrounded The New Gentle Touch since it’s arrival in middle-class Marchmont. Eileen Dickson, spokeswoman for the Marchmont St Giles branch of the Church of Scotland Ladies' Guild said: "When it opened there was great trepidation. Everyone knew it was a brothel." However another Guild member who lives on Warrender Park Terrace, was shocked to discover this establishment exists in the neighbourhood.

Their concern coincides with that of Lothian and Borders Police who launched a new team in September 2005 to tackle exploitation and prostitution. In a press release at the time, Assistant Chief Constable Tom Halpin said, "We will be looking at people who are being lured over to this country on false pretences … Prostitution … is an area that we will be particularly focussing on."

David Anderson, barman at the Argyle pub, accepts the presence of a brothel in Argyle Place: "When it first came there was a lot of nose-turning, but now it is just one of those things. The most concerning thing is having Sick Kids and Sciennes Primary school down the road. The mothers are passing it with their kids all the time."However, he claimed The Gentle Touch does bother the people who live in the houses opposite it and one woman left the area after her public protest proved futile.

Despite certain practices surrounding prostitution's continued illegality in Britain other traders in Argyle Place were unconcerned by the confirmation of The Gentle Touch's status. Florist Monica Higgins said, "I don't have a problem with it. It's very discreet. I'm sure if there was a real problem the local bobbies would be on to it because we're a very close-knit community."

A year on from the Ipswich murders the general consensus in Marchmont is that it is safer if prostitutes operate from brothels. David Anderson said, "it takes it off the streets so it's not downgrading the area. Once you get prostitutes on the streets you then get drug-dealers. This way is better because it's regulated."