And no wonder. If you live somewhere near a so-called tolerance zone and you've got to put up with menacing characters lurking around then, of course, that's unacceptable.

Until seven years ago, Edinburgh officials turned a blind eye to such a zone which was then at Coburg Street.

However, as the area became more residential, and following a campaign by its residents, the women were shifted to Salamander Street at Leith Links.

As an area that was at the time populated by warehouses, it was seen as the ideal 'out of the way' location for the seedy business of prostitution to carry on.

The residents of Leith Links, however, did not see it that way and, as the vice girls strayed into the park, there was an understandable outcry.

As time goes on, and the industrial warehouses of Leith are demolished and replaced by flats – or converted into trendy living spaces – there becomes increasingly fewer remote places to consider.

However, this week, the Cockburn Association, the city's Civic Trust, raised eyebrows by calling for a zone to be re-established.

Their comments were made in the context of a regeneration plan for Leith Docks being unveiled and so one can assume their thinking is that they'd like to see the problem contained.

It was the cue for the Leith Links Residents Association to vehemently voice their opposition but, as Ruth Morgan Thomas points out, the vice girls don't want to be working in a residential area either.

Ruth, the manager of the Newhaven-based support charity Scotpep, says there was much "disquiet" when the tolerance zone moved from Coburg Street because Salamander Street was such a busy thoroughfare.

Ruth says that, ideally, the vice girls prefer to work in places that are well lit, covered by CCTV and away from residential areas.

And keeping the sex industry above ground means support can be made available to them to try and help them find a way out of it.

"Scotpep has consistently called for the re-introduction of the managed area previously operated in Edinburgh," says Ruth.

"If you value these women as members of our society, we have a responsibility to ensure they are protected.

"A managed area creates a safer environment where women can work together and protect one another.

"It also minimises the involvement of 'undesirables' such as drug dealers and protection racketeers."

However, now there is little hope of such a managed area ever being re-established thanks to new legislation which makes it impossible for councils to turn a blind eye.

"The local authorities have been reminded by the Scottish Government that it's illegal for them to do so," says Margo MacDonald, the Lothians MSP who once campaigned to see red-light tolerance zones made legal.

"Previously, they were always a bit nervous that they could be challenged in court for running the informal zones.

"If they were formalised then they could just go ahead as they had done, knowing they were free from prosecution.

"Now, the idea of setting up anything is not on because the law would forbid it – now it is known that the government would consider this to be illegal."

Instead, new vice laws introduced in October have outlawed kerb crawling, making it an offence to "loiter" in a vehicle – a crime that has led to the arrest of 29 suspected kerb crawlers by Lothian and Borders Police.

However, since this time, the streets have also become more dangerous for the prostitutes as they are forced to work in isolation and are therefore at greater risk.

Attacks reported to Scotpep have almost doubled from 66 in June 2006 to 126 last year when the women reported 55 assaults, and 17 rapes and sexual assaults.

There has also been an increase in violence from the general public with people hurling abuse and also throwing missiles – including bottles of urine, eggs and stones – at the women.

As well as improving their personal safety, Ruth argues that a tolerance zone would also mean that a drop-in service could be established to help women access medical, education and employment services.

She adds: "We have seen a significant decrease in the frequency women contact us, which significantly reduces the support and opportunities to refer women on to agencies who can assist them in addressing the issues which lead them to be involved in street prostitution."

As Leith becomes more populated, it could be that the vice trade will thrive among the trendy new buildings and offices.

However, what is more likely is that it will be squeezed out to ever more isolated areas – something that might well benefit the people of Leith but will surely not please those who suddenly find the prostitutes working near their doorstep.

And it will do little to improve safety for the girls themselves.