Now residents in Deepdale are turning detective in a bid to thwart prostitution problems in their area, putting up CCTV cameras in their homes to record evidence of the women making their lives a misery.

Neighbours in East View and surrounding streets fear their neighbourhood is becoming known as a red light hotspot – but feel problems on their patch are overshadowed by the attention given to nearby Fletcher Road and St Mary's Street.

They believe a recent police action against sex workers touting for trade in St Matthew's has forced the women to move to residential areas in St George's instead.

Fed-up neighbours say they are tired of being propositioned, verbally abused and woken up by the women, their pimps, drug dealers or clients.

One 70-year-old woman told the Evening Post she is woken daily by prostitutes screaming obscenities and arguing with rivals, often as late as 4am.

Residents are now hoping to win a 12-month battle to secure funding to get CCTV around St Ignatius Square, Meadow Street and St George's Road to reduce some of the problems.

St George's PACT chairman Robin Maudsley, 56, said: "The girls shout and scream in the street. It can go on until 3am and starts as early as 2pm.

"They shout anything, from what they just did with their last client to asking another girl for drugs."

He added: "We are seeing new faces, which is worrying. Yet the police seem powerless. If they do try to crack down on them, they just move.

"We have started to get our own evidence of what's going on. When we first moved here in the 1970s it was a lovely area and you could leave your door unlocked. Now no-one feels safe."

A father-of-three from East View said: "Fletcher Road gets all the attention but we need action here too. We are propositioned on our doorstep.

"Men – either pimps or dealers – are parked up for hours talking to the girls. I have been threatened and called names by the prostitutes. We don't want to tolerate this any more."

The 45-year-old is too afraid to be named because when he voiced the problem to police five years ago his window was smashed.

Insp Steve Evans of Preston Police said: "Inevitably when we have policing activity in an area it can cause some displacement. I'm concerned the prostitutes are going into residential areas. The advantage of Fletcher Road and St Mary's Street is that they are mainly industrial.

"Prostitution will always take place – where there's men who will pay for sex there will be a supply to meet demand. I think the key to the problems at the moment is action on the kerb crawlers, and making it uncomfortable for those individuals to operate."