Prostitutes should be allowed to sell sex without fear of arrest, an Oxford MP has claimed.

Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said there was “no justification” for criminalising free transactions between individuals as long as they did not cause a public nuisance.

Prostitution itself is not illegal, but many of the activities related to it are.

Dr Harris has signed a string of Parliamentary motions critical of the Government’s Policing and Crime Bill, which contains measures to create a new offence of paying for sex with a prostitute who is controlled for gain, as well as tougher action against kerb-crawling and brothels.

The MP said Government plans to further tighten the laws on prostitution would be difficult to enforce. He said that, rather than “casting around” for more offences, its efforts would be better spent tackling trafficking and cases where women are pimped out against their will.

However, an Oxford man who has called for action to be taken on prostitution in the Cowley Road area of the city said he was unconvinced Dr Harris’s solution was the answer.

City councillor Sabir-Hussain Mirza, chairman of the Muslim Council of Oxford and a resident of Cowley Road, said: “I think any way they can tackle the issue is good for the community and good for residents.

“However, I think prostitution should be considered a crime. We must remember prostitution has links to drugs and drink, all of which cause trouble on our streets.”

In the motions signed by Dr Harris, the Royal College of Nursing warned that criminalising prostitution made sex workers more vulnerable to attack.

Dr Harris also urged the Government to make more effective use of existing laws.

He told the Oxford Mail: “I am certainly against greater criminalisation of prostitution, which just drives it underground and drives women further from police and makes it more dangerous for them.

“Unless you can get rid of prostitution entirely, which no Western country has ever been able to do, extra criminalisation is going to make things worse.

“Arresting people in red light districts just means filling the courts or driving people to more remote places.”

Dr Harris insisted that where prostitution was a nuisance to communities it could be dealt with under existing legislation.

He said: “The protection of women, and men, is not well served by increased criminalisation. It certainly doesn't stop it.”

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk