WI members on brothel fact finding tour

10:18am Thursday 31st July 2008

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THE story of how two members of the Hampshire Women's Institute toured the world's brothels and kerb-crawled the streets of Southampton will be screened this weekend.

Grandmother Jean Johnson, 62, and her friend Shirley Landells, 73, visited Amsterdam, the US and New Zealand in their search for the "perfect brothel".

The pair, both members of the Holybourne branch of the WI, started a campaign to legalise brothels in Hampshire following the murder of five Ipswich prostitutes in 2006.

In Nevada, USA, they visited a "bunny ranch" dubbed the "best little whorehouse in the western world". Jean and Shirley are pictured right with girls at the ranch.

"It was like a motel out in the middle of the desert and people from all over the world go there," Ms Johnson said.

"As a punter you press a button and a lady comes to invite you in and then you have a choice of girls."

The documentary, to be screened on Channel 4 on Sunday, also shows the women driving through a notorious Southampton industrial estate where they saw numerous young girls wandering the streets alone in the dark.

The grandmothers have presented a petition to Downing Street calling for legalised brothels.

The WI Guide to Brothels is on Channel 4 on Sunday at 10pm.