A Chinese man who went on the run hours before being convicted of running brothels in Devon and London is being hunted by police.

Lei Zhang, 32, of Shandy Street, Stepney, London, was also convicted of controlling prostitution, trafficking women and converting criminal property.

When the jury returned to deliver its verdict, the judge at Plymouth Crown Court told them Zhang had vanished.

A police spokeswoman confirmed officers are actively searching for Zhang.

Zhang, who had denied running a chain of "chicken houses" in which the trafficked girls worked as prostitutes, is believed to disappeared over the weekend, leaving an unpaid bill at a Plymouth bed and breakfast.

'Demoralised girls'

His partner, 30-year-old Feng Jiang, also from Stepney, had pleaded guilty to brothel keeping in Exeter and London, controlling prostitution for gain and trafficking women for sexual exploitation.

A third defendant, 50-year-old Chun Hung Lau, from Plymouth, was found guilty of converting criminal property and a mortgage fraud. He will be sentenced next week.

Prosecutor Anthony Donne, QC, told the jury "demoralised" girls were taken to five brothels in the UK.

Mr Donne said they were in the process of creating a mega brothel in London when police swooped on a Plymouth house in January last year.

Zhang and Jiang are due to be sentenced in November, but Judge Darlow said if Zhang is not found he could be sentenced in his absence.