A millionaire brothel madam who ran an "enormously successful" sex empire narrowly escaped jail with a 180-hour community service order today - but was warned that she would be stripped of her wealth.

Ann O’Brien rose from selling vegetables in a rural Kenyan market to employing dozens of prostitutes in her plush Mayfair townhouse, banking hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Vice squad officers watched as a "steady stream" of largely single men called round to part with £150 for an hour’s pleasure, featuring almost every sexual activity in the dictionary. Whips, chains and an array of other "toys" were available for use in the bordello’s six luxuriously-furnished double bedrooms.

A "takeaway" service was also available for hotel guests, who could choose from a menu packed with illicit pleasures that began at £250.

London’s Southwark Crown Court heard that business was so successful that the slightly-built 32-year-old was thinking of adding a dungeon to her list of attractions. Police found a catalogue packed with everything for the most demanding masochist. Restraints, cages, stocks, and a bondage wheel were all available. O’Brien was just deciding what to order when she was arrested.

She stubbornly protested her innocence despite "overwhelming evidence", including 200,000 raunchy "telephone box" cards in her bedroom.

Last month a jury unanimously convicted her of three charges of "controlling prostitutes" between October 10 2003 and April 15 last year.

Passing sentence, Judge John Price told O’Brien that despite the "seriousness" of the offences, he did not think she needed to return to prison, where she has already spent five months on remand awaiting trial.

"Some form of service in the community, this time unpaid of course, will be appropriate," he said.

"You lied throughout that trial and the jury found you guilty. The maximum sentence is one of seven years and you deserve to go to prison for this.

"There were many girls involved and a great deal of money was made. You did very well out of it. The prosecution intend to take that away from you."

A confiscation hearing will be held in November when the Crown is expected to seek up to £1.2 million. In the meantime, she was ordered to pay £3,982 prosecution costs, as well as the costs of her defence, which have yet to be quantified.

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