UPDATED 2pm: The Croydon Advertiser's front page last week splashed on the results of "an undercover investigation" that revealed the existence of "a seedy brothel."

The article, Sinister brothel uncovered next to charity office, was written in the style of a News of the World investigation, with the obligatory use of a hidden camera.

It even had the intrepid reporter, having risked his life to expose a brothel masquerading as a massage parlour, using the time-worn phrase about making his excuses and leaving prior to any sexual activity.

Evidently, the Advertiser journalist was prompted to track down this den of iniquity after a complaint from an unnamed businessman.

But he could have found evidence much closer to home because page 52 of his own newspaper carried an advert for the very same "fantasy massage" establishment he went to such trouble to "reveal".

Several Croydon-based bloggers spotted the embarrassing truth. One of them, Inside Croydon, headlined its exposure of the exposure, Brothel story has Sadvertiser caught with its pants down.

The Croydon Community Against Trafficking (CCAT) was also unimpressed by the paper's hypocrisy, claiming that the Advertiser had carried adverts for the same brothel for years. It went on to say:

CCAT has brought this very fact to the attention of the Croydon Advertiser in the past... CCAT is baffled by the utter hypocrisy of the Croydon Advertiser; on the one hand to have a front page article about sinister brothels in our midst, and then, on the other, to take money from the same brothel and help it to thrive, demonstrates an alarming degree of double standards from our local family newspaper.

The group called for a boycott of the Advertiser - and the Croydon Post - "until they stop making a profit from the exploitation of women."

UPDATE: The Advertiser's editor, Andy Worden, did not feel able to comment. But Alan Geere, the editorial director of Northcliffe Media's south-east weeklies issued a statement this afternoon. It said:



We are aware of the sensitivities surrounding adult and personal services advertising. Conscious of these concerns, we take every reasonable step to ensure that the advertising we carry complies with both the letter and the spirit of the law.

No-one placing advertising of this nature is allowed to pay cash, as stipulated in the Newspaper Society guidelines. All advertisers in this category have to show proof of identity – a copy of which is retained for our records. We apply strict guidelines to the wording that can be used and we promote the fact that we co-operate pro-actively with the police in the event that we have cause for concern.

What we choose not to do is to deny legitimate members of the community who choose to provide these services within the law, the right to advertise. This we feel is a dangerous precedent to establish and opens us up to pressure from any quarter to apply individual judgments of decency and morality.

This suggests that the incident will not lead to Northcliffe Media changing its policy on running adverts for brothels. Meanwhile, consider these three further points:

First, the Advertiser "investigation" concludes by pointing out that it is illegal under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 to run a brothel. It is not, however, illegal to carry adverts for one.

Second, Northcliffe Media is the regional newspaper division of the Daily Mail & General Trust. What, I wonder, would the morally upright Daily Mail have to say about its company making a profit from prostitution?

Third, the Advertiser's rival, the Croydon Guardian (owned by Newsquest/Gannett) dropped all "adult services ads" in July 2008.

Sources: Croydon Advertiser/Hapless Hack/Love Croydon/Inside Croydon/CCAT