GOVERNMENT job centres have been accused of recruiting for the sex industry by advertising for unemployed women to become £100-an-hour “escorts”.

One agency using the Jobcentre Plus service features girls on its website who offer “no-strings adult fun”.

Jobcentre Plus has been recruiting in at least nine areas around Britain, including Llandudno, Cardiff, Heathrow, Cheltenham and Newquay.

Women who visited the website of Sweet Dreams, which advertised with Jobcentre Plus in the Llandudno area, would have found pictures of women in their underwear offering overnight bookings, “dress-up fun” and “a night in to get your blood pumping”.

Jasmin, one of its girls, could “show anyone a good time and if she likes you that much . . . you just never know”.

Escort agencies say that this is not prostitution because sex with clients takes place only “between consenting adults”. However, the agencies are widely considered to be part of the sex industry.

Ann Widdecombe, a Conservative former Home Office minister, said: “I am amazed this advertising is going on. If you are a young girl who is desperate for a job and you walk into a job centre, that sort of a job and money does seem pretty tempting.

“At job centres you can be dealing with pretty vulnerable people and it’s horrible to put this in front of them.”

The jobseekers’ allowance is £3,075.80 a year.

Frances Broderick, a spokeswoman for Eaves, a charity that houses women trafficked into prostitution, said: “It presents these jobs in a safe and glamorous way, not giving the real picture of how dangerous and unpleasant the whole industry is.

“On the one hand Harriet Harman [the minister for women] says her priorities are tackling sexual exploitation and helping women in prostitution. At the same time, other parts of government are . . . fuelling that kind of economy by helping recruitment.”

The Department for Work and Pensions claimed that its job centres were legally bound to offer the employment - although the adverts all disappeared from its website after The Sunday Times asked questions.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• The bright side of this winter rain
• Story behind the picture: Snow Leopard, 2008
• Times Charity Appeal: The Place2Be