SHOP owners in a high street say they are “upset and annoyed” because the council have threatened to fine them if stickers advertising brothels are stuck to their windows.

Leytonstone High Road is plagued by the problem and business owners say as soon as they have removed the stickers more are put up the following night.

The shop owners are now calling for Waltham Forest Council to take tougher action to catch the culprits.

Bharat Parmar, who runs a pharmacy, said the council’s tactics for tackling the ongoing problem are “vicious”.

He said: “Shortly after Christmas the council sent a team of scrapers around and cleaned all the stickers off the store fronts and the poles. 

“Then I received a letter saying it is now our responsibility and they would fine us. It was done a bit viciously.

“I make it a point to check when I open my shop every morning but it is not under our control if people put stickers outside.”

The stickers advertising prostitutes under the guise of massage parlours are placed on lampposts, shop windows and shutters along the road.

Priscilla Arthur who runs a clothes shop said she was surprised when she discovered the truth behind the ads.

The mother-of-one said: “I am shocked because if a customer had asked me to recommend a massage place I would have told them to call that number.

“It is not good to have this advertised on our street because there are lots of children here and it is a bad example. 

“You cannot be putting up ads advertising prostitutes. It is not good for kids to see because they may follow in that direction.

“It is annoying and there needs to be more action. If I ever saw a guy putting up these stickers I would run him down.”

Zahid Aslam, who runs a convenience store, said the stickers are ruining the image of the street.

He said: “I am not happy about this. It is damaging the image of our street and is an eyesore. They are everywhere and it is a small team of people putting them up.

“It annoys me when I remove the stickers and the next day they are back.”

Abdul Sikder who owns a foodstore on the high road, said: “It is upsetting to think the council will fine me because it is not my fault and it is unfair. 

“They should fine the guys who puts the stickers up and they need to be tougher on them.”

The council said it is not its intention to “automatically” fine the shop owners but if they fail to remove the stickers “in good time” it will take action against them.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment said: “I want to also be clear that it is the responsibility of owners to keep their shop fronts clean, and that includes removing any fly-posting and stickers. 

“If a business fails to remove fly-posting and stickers from their shopfront in good time then the council can issue them with a community protection warning which requires them to remove it within seven days. 

“If they fail to do this we can then issue a community protection notice, which means we can remove the fly-posting and recover the costs, and also issue a fixed penalty notice.

“Having personally torn down many a ‘massage sticker’ over recent years- in common with many civic minded Waltham Forest residents- this is a process that actually takes seconds, if done regularly.”