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Pictures have been uncovered which show the abject conditions that a sex worker in Leeds has been forced to live in - just yards from the front gates of a primary school.

The photos were taken by 34-year-old Amanda Sullivan, one of the founding members of Save Our Eyes, a campaign group set up to highlight the impact that the city's Managed Approach has had on communities in south Leeds.

Amanda contacted LeedsLive in a bid to show the heartbreaking situation the unnamed woman has found herself in, but also to enforce the message that homelessness and sex work are often inextricably linked.

She made the 'devastating' discovery after dropping her children off at Lane End Primary School in Beeston on Wednesday, June 5.

"I have found needles in those bushes before," she said. "I hadn't checked for a long time so I thought I'd have a look."

WARNING - Some people may find the pictures below distressing

She was confronted with a small, open area of woodland that had been tidied by its occupant in a bid to resemble a makeshift home.

Amanda said: "It's one of the most devastating things I've ever seen. It's one of the things that has hit me - and others that have seen it - very hard emotionally.

"It was literally just a woodland of suffering. That's the only way I can describe it.

"You walk in and there's a tree and there are toilet rolls put in clear bags hanging from the tree.

"You walk down a bit and then there's a table full of shampoo bottles."

'The pictures don't give you the sense of feeling that was there'

Amanda says that although she did see condoms and needles, none of them looked to have been used. She said their presence seemed 'symbolic'.

"It's the bed that got me more than anything," said Amanda.

"The bed that was laid out with slippers, and then the condom and needles that were hanging above.

"There was only one condom there in a wrapper attached to a fence but this and the needles looked symbolic, as if she was saying: 'That's all I'm worth'.

"We honestly think that has become her home. The place was spotless. It was like she was trying to make a home. It was immaculate. She even had a bin she was using.

"The pictures don't give you the sense of feeling that was there."

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Amanda immediately spoke to teachers at the school, who contacted West Yorkshire Police.

"Some of the parents go and sit in the pub there and the children go and pay in those bushes," she said.

"It's absolutely petrifying."

She then rung a leading sex worker charity in Leeds to investigate further, so they could try and find the women to offer her support.

"Three members of their staff went out and were in absolute tears," Amanda revealed.

Although leading charities in Leeds try and help vulnerable sex workers where they can, they are at pains to stress that there often isn't a quick fix for some of the women.

Charities, such as Basis Yorkshire, support dozens of street sex workers in Leeds by helping them to arrange appointments and fill out forms to get their benefits, but they warn that helping somebody off the streets is a complex situation that often requires many different services - and it can sometimes take months or even years to achieve.

Amanda admits that although Save Our Eyes have occasionally been at loggerheads with the sex worker charities in Leeds, the most important matter is helping the individuals on the streets.

"It was nice to know that as much as we are on opposing sides, if we do come across something like this, they are there and they are trying to do something," she said.

"I do think if they do find homes it gives these women a chance to be more stabilised. It might take some of the needles of our streets aswell."

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