A prostitute returned to work in a red light district just 30 minutes after giving birth, a Police Community Support Officer has said.

PCSO Jacqui Fairbanks has described the plight of the sex workers she has supported for the last ten years in Hull, Yorkshire.

Fairbanks has been operating in Hull's Hessle Road and says there are currently around 40 prostitutes working at various times in the road.

Speaking to the Hull Daily Mail Fairbanks spoke about the women, saying many had been abused physically and sexually before they began working on the street.

Many of the woman she works with are homeless and have faced coercion by pimps and boyfriends, reports the International Business Times.

‘One woman had a baby and, within half an hour, was back out on the streets. That's how desperate some of these women are,’ she told the Hull Daily Mail.

She added: ‘This isn't Pretty Woman, I'm afraid. Some rich punter isn't going to come along and sweep these women off their feet and live happily ever after.

‘Our problem is that these women will not come and deal with us. Their self-esteem is so low that they enjoy the attention they receive and that is really sad.’

The women working on Hessle Road are said to come from all ages from mid-twenties up to with customers coming from a mix of backgrounds.

Fairbanks added: ‘There is a perception that these women are all on benefits but that is not always the case. For many, this is their only source of income.

‘At the end of the day these women are somebody's daughter.

‘I try to tell them they are better than this. But all we can do is off them the help through the different agencies.’

In 2014 section 222 orders were introduced by Hull City Council meaning prostitutes and kerb crawlers can be given orders preventing them from entering the area or face arrest.

Those handed orders can be arrested if found breaching the order by loitering, soliciting or having sex in public.

In the last three months there has been 16 section 222 orders have been handed out to kerb crawlers and 33 orders handed to sex workers, reported the Hull Daily Mail.