Britain’s first official red light district has been branded a failure by one of its key architects amid speculation that the controversial scheme maybe on the brink of collapse.

The local politician who helped mastermind the zone in Leeds admitted the women working the streets were still at risk of violence and neighbouring residents had seen a surge in sex and drug-taking in their streets, parks and woods, sometimes in full view of children. Kerb-crawling men are meanwhile evading prosecution from the police’s “hands-off” approach.

A crisis meeting to be held between residents and the council, police and health chiefs on Tuesday will hear strong calls for the ending of the scheme. “Our argument is that it’s not appropriate to have girls bought and sold on our streets in 2018,” said Claire Bentley-Smith, a resident.

Mark Dobson, the executive councillor who helped set up the zone, called for a major overhaul: “Unless the scheme is seen to work, it will fail and it is failing.”

Former international development secretary Hillary Benn, the local MP, has also said the scheme “is not working in its own terms” and has called for a “rethink.”