Sheffield brothel mum's shock as TV reporter reveals herself as sex worker

Cheryl Hague was being interviewed on BBC local current affairs show Inside Out after she found out that a home she had been renting out was being used as a brothel.

Presenter Charlotte Rose was reporting on how difficult it is for sex workers to carry out their business – for constant fear of eviction from landlords.

But it is actually legal for women working alone to use their house for paid sex – and Charlotte left Cheryl stunned when she broke the news at the end of the report on last night’s show.

Telling how she had found out her house was being used as a brothel during a routine gas inspection, Cheryl was told by Charlotte: “What would you say if I wanted to rent your property. I’m a sex worker – what would you say?”On the spot, Cheryl replies: “I can’t take part in anything illegal.”

But being informed that solo sex work from home is legal, Cheryl replies: “If the council and police are not bothered, I can't see me having a problem.

“You want to do it, its your choice, its a different matter altogether.

“If people want to conduct that job it should be in a safe environment.”

Cheryl revealed on the show how she discovered that a house she was renting out had been turned into a sleazy prostitution den - with a gaggle of scantily dressed girls, red light bulbs, blow-up beds and sex items littering the semi-detached home on one of Sheffield's large council estates.

Mrs Hague says she made the discovery after turning up at the "average two-bedroom house" she was renting out as a long-term investment for the property's annual gas safety check.

Mrs Hague, who is not identifying the exact location of the property in Sheffield, said that she had let out the property a few months previously through a lettings agent and had had no problems with other tenants.

However, that turned out to be a mistake after she made the shocking discovery one Saturday morning.

She added: "I asked a scantily-clad woman, probably in her late 20s, where our tenants were.

"She said the man had left and the woman still lived there but she and the other six women were visiting her from Romania. I didn't believe that but still wasn't sure what was going on.

"As I looked at the women - and the washing line full of underwear in the back garden - the penny began to drop. I am not naïve but I wouldn't expect to find this kind of operation on a family estate in Sheffield, so it was a shock.

"My curiosity took over and I went into the living room and discovered a double blow-up bed on the floor. Likewise, upstairs, each room had a double blow-up bed and some other items that would be associated with the sex trade."

You can watch the documentary on BBC iPlayer HERE