Men using prostitutes who are controlled by a pimp or have been trafficked into the country face criminal charges, the Home Secretary said today.

Jacqui Smith said that those who paid for sex with people “controlled for another person’s gain” will be guilty of an offence and face fines of £1,000 and a criminal record.

The change in the law, to be outlined in full by ministers later today, aims to target those who profit from treating women as "slaves," Ms Smith told BBC Breakfast.

“What I disapprove of is women being exploited in this country, coerced, trafficked into the country," Ms Smith said.

“That is what I am particularly interested in helping to tackle, alongside the anti-social behaviour, the concern that communities have, particularly about on-street prostitution in their areas.”

First-time kerb crawlers, rather than only persistent offenders, will also risk prosecution under the plans, according to Ms Smith. “In my book, once round the block is once too many,” she said.

When asked why she was not proposing an outright ban on prostitution, the Home Secretary said that she accepted some women made the argument that they had a "free choice to engage in this" - so only those being exploited should be the focus of new laws.

“What I am concerned about, and what I think the Government’s responsibility is too, is to those... pretty large number of women involved in prostitution who are vulnerable, forced into it, who have been trafficked into this country," she said.

"Whilst we ... should continue to protect them in the way in which we have done, I also think we need to turn the spotlight, as we are doing through this review, on those who actually create the demand in the first place, who create the demand that leads to trafficking, that leads to people being held almost as slaves and used for prostitution and that’s what today’s review is about.”

Also under the plans, lap-dancing clubs will fall within the same rules as sex shops and sex cinemas. Councils will have greater powers to control their spread and the clubs could face higher charges for licences. At the moment they are regulated like pubs and bars.

She said: “I hope people will think twice about the nature of prostitution, about the fact there are women who are forced and coerced into it in this country.”

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