Officers from the force's anti-vice operation began targeting the area 12 months ago after it emerged women from Wolverhampton and Birmingham were moving to the area.

A combination of high-profile patrols and undercover officers were used to target both prostitutes and kerb crawlers.

West Midlands Police said on Friday that six prostitutes had been arrested and handed anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) banning them from the area.

Sergeant Andy Houston said: "We have noticed an effect of reducing activity in the area since last year.

"It's a significant reduction, we're not getting the amount of complaints we had 12 months ago.

"We are very pleased with the reduction so far but it is by no means the end of the story."

Operation Christian was set up to tackle prostitution in the city 18 months ago, forming a partnership between police and other agencies.