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LONDON (AP) -- The government announced Thursday it will step up efforts to stop prostitutes from advertising with lurid cards placed in telephone booths, declaring the widespread practice a crime punishable by a fine of up to 5,000 pounds ($7,250) or six months in jail.
The new law, which takes effect Saturday, targets the flimsy cards that sex workers post in phone booths in central London and the southern coastal city of Brighton.
"Prostitutes' cards in phone boxes are offensive and create a bad impression on young people and foreign visitors. It is an illegal practice and these regulations will help law enforcers take action against it," the Home Office said.
British Telecom says it removes 150,000 cards from phone booths in downtown London each year, at an annual cost of 250,000 pounds ($362,500). Some 13 million prostitutes' cards are produced every year, and more than 700 phone boxes in London are affected, the Home Office said.
"There is no doubt that the public share our strong desire to see this problem wiped out. ... We hope to dramatically reduce the incidence of these increasingly lurid and often pornographic cards which deface and shame the city," said Kit Malthouse, deputy leader of the Westminster City Council in London.
Under existing laws, "carders" face a maximum fine of 1,000 pounds ($1,450).
Prostitution itself is not a crime in Britain.
