Police will attend a public meeting

They were angry that a new tolerance zone had been introduced in the area without any consultation.

Some 25 protesters were invited in to meet the area's senior police officer.

But half the group left after about an hour, furious that they had not been given any assurances about why the zone had been chosen and how long it would remain there.

One of them warned that people would try to take the law into their own hands, with the result that police would have to arrest them.

However, the police explained that they had not been able to consult local residents because the story had leaked out in the media before they had a chance.

Red light district

Officers have agreed to take part in a public meeting on Thursday to discuss people's worries.

It emerged earlier this month that the city's red light district was to be moved in a bid to keep prostitutes away from residential and business areas.

Lothian and Borders Police confirmed that it would be asking vice girls to leave the traditional "tolerance zone" in Coburg Street, Leith, for a nearby industrial estate in Salamander Street.

The force said officers would take a tougher stance against any prostitute soliciting for business in the traditional area after 15 August.

Tough guidelines are being introduced to control the number of vice girls congregating in the new area.