A bill which would give local authorities the power to create prostitution tolerance zones has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

Margo MacDonald MSP said her bill would help to end the conflict between prostitutes and the people who live in the areas where they operate.

It has also been claimed that the move could help to cut the number of attacks on women working on the street.

An unofficial tolerance zone in Edinburgh was abandoned last year and since then there has been a marked increase in the number of attacks on women.

Margo MacDonald has support from 13 MSPs

A zone was also established in the harbour area of Aberdeen earlier this year.

Under the bill's proposals the police would no longer prosecute women for soliciting in a particular part of town.

The area would be carefully defined and would only apply at certain times of day.

Local authorities would be forced to consult nearby residents before any area could be designated a tolerance zone.

Ms MacDonald said she was not making any moral judgement about the practice of prostitution.

Track record

She said her bill was simply designed to try to confine it to certain agreed areas and to allow the police to protect women from assault.

"The principle of managing street prostitution in this way has been accepted by most people and there is a track record to show that it does work in Edinburgh, and to a lesser extent in Aberdeen.

"The difficulty is in identifying a place now," she told BBC Radio Scotland.

We don't have a clear division between the business of the night and the business of the day

Margo MacDonald

Ms MacDonald gave the example of Glasgow, a city which she thought unlikely to establish a tolerance zone.

She said that the 24-hour economy meant that people were working longer hours in areas where prostitutes had traditionally plied their trade.

"We don't have a clear division between the business of the night and the business of the day," she said.

The Scottish National Party MSP also pointed out that the traditional Edinburgh red light area of Leith had become gentrified in recent years.

While she accepted that it could prove difficult to identify suitable areas, Ms MacDonald believed it was possible to do so.

And she said she was hopeful that the bill could go on to become law.

Committee inquiry

"The principle of tolerance zones for prostitution is one that seems to have public support," she added.

"I haven't seen any opinion poll or any opinion sample that has shown anything other than that."

Consultation on the bill ended in May and 13 MSPs have so far given it their support.

It will now go forward for committee inquiry.