Neighbours see red over blue movies

Published on Saturday 31 January 2009 21:44

A PORNOGRAPHER who uses his home as an adult film studio found angry neighbours protesting outside his property yesterday, enraged at the "prostitution" they say has blighted the street.

Residents of The Coppice, an affluent cul-de-sac in Bradley Stoke, Bristol, gathered around the home of James Edwards to vent their anger at the blue movie industry operating there.

Holding placards bearing slogans including "Pimps out, values up" the 12 protesters confronted Edwards, 42, claiming the house also welcomed paying customers, supplementing the legitimate film business.

The residents claim men come and go from the detached property on a half-hourly basis almost every day, often hiding their faces as they leave.

Edwards yesterday denied that any prostitution is taking place inside his home, which features a Jacuzzi, air conditioning and seven CCTV cameras, claiming the visitors are just cameramen.

Avon and Somerset police said they only have evidence that a legal adult film business is operating from the house and can take no action.

Retired building technician Fred Hillberg, 64, who lives opposite, said the protest aimed to get the authorities to take notice of the five-year battle by residents to clean up the street.

Hillberg said: "We are just ordinary people and we feel very uncomfortable with this. We've now got a reputation as a red-light area and house prices have suffered.

"Originally it was just pornography, but now we see girls being brought to the house regularly. You get some regulars then they disappear and you get new ones. Most of them are young and some of them are foreign. You can see them outside, smoking and talking on their mobiles.

"The men come and go most days. Sometimes it starts as early as 10am and can go on until 7pm. They aren't carrying cameras and some of them look old enough to be great grand-dads.

"A year ago we met with police, and everything went quiet for a few days, then started up again."

Hillberg said police claimed to have investigated the problem fully. But they "pooh-poohed" residents' invitations to use their homes for surveillance and their request for undercover vice officers.

Retired hairdresser Margaret Kite, 75, said: "I feel so sorry for Fred. He's got it in his face the whole time. Men are coming into the house at half-hour intervals almost every day. He (Edwards] says he's not making much out of it, but he's just had a new bathroom suite put in and a stairlift.

"It is awful. The women are not glamorous when they arrive. They might doll themselves up a bit when they are in there. One arrived on a motorbike in leathers."

Resident Zena Robbins said local people had organised the stand because they were fed up with the "disgraceful situation" of having a blue film set on their doorstep.

Another neighbour, Mike Otley, said people felt like prisoners in their own homes because of the comings and goings at the premises.

Speaking outside his home yesterday, Edwards, who advertises on the internet, said: "If I pay a female model and a male model to do a scene for a DVD, some people would argue that is prostitution. I wouldn't.

"They think it is immoral, but I am conducting a legitimate business here in adult content – stills and video. It is BBFC classified. Other than the dog barking there's been no complaints of noise.

"They've got every right to object, but we are not doing anything illegal."

He claims he has been a victim of vandalism on the street, with acid and paint being poured on his Aston Martin car in the past.

Edwards, who has been in the adult entertainment business for 10 years, said police had "fully investigated" claims of prostitution a number of times and found nothing.

He told angry protester Dave Wall: "I don't need your permission to do it."