Suggestions include asking sex workers to educate the public

The council has put forward a response to a Home Office consultation and now wants to continue the work.

A council report said the city does not have a street sex market, but does have an indoor sex trade.

It said where sex is sold from private premises, officers believe registration would offer public health safeguards.

Councillor Sue John told BBC Southern Counties Radio the council wanted to protect vulnerable people.

It's a question of whether it is a good choice for people to be in the sex trade and whether they there by choice Cllr Sue John

"We know lots of people end up in prostitution because they are homeless, because they are drug abusers or they might have got into debt and it's the only route out.

"It's a question of whether it is a good choice for people to be in the sex trade and whether they are there by choice. I think most people are not."

She said the council wanted to help people out of that situation.

"What is different about prostitution in Brighton and Hove is that the sex trade takes place behind closed doors," she added.

"What hit home to us was that we need to know a lot more."

The strategy would tackle issues of child protection, drug misuse, asylum seekers and refugees, the male sex market and sexual health.

Sub culture

Action being discussed includes using sex workers to act as educators to the wider public so people who go to prostitutes are fully aware of the implications of their activities.

The report being considered on Wednesday also suggests if premises are registered, they could be asked to display information about sexually transmitted infection and legal restrictions regarding age.

The Brighton Oasis project, which runs outreach to women sex workers, has called for a public information campaign to highlight that paying for sex with under-18s is illegal, even though the age of consent is 16.

Sussex Police said the sex market was indicative of other problems such as drugs and that both markets were part of a sub culture with links to illegal immigration.