Distraught Pauline Casey, 38, of Morgan House,Three Bridges has suffered repeated verbal abuse and harassment ever since police closed down the sex den in her building last month.

And Pauline, who is sick of being branded a prostitute, has now taken to staying in her flat with the curtains drawn.

She said: "People having been shouting my name and shouting that I'm a prostitute. It's disgusting really, I can't believe they think I've got anything to do with it. It's disgusting really"

Pauline's boyfriend has even been targeted for abuse and called a 'pimp' when he visits.

The unemployed 38-year-old said she hadn't known anything about a brothel until the Observer's investigation in April.

She explained: "I didn't know anything about it until a reporter pushed a note through my door asking me about it.

"I found out about it when it appeared in your newspaper. I thought, ''That's the flat below mine, just downstairs', I couldn't believe it."

Full story in the Crawley Observer