Sex, drugs, and crime top the bill at Festival

But while the benefit of Edinburgh's festivals cannot be disputed, there is an altogether murkier side to the month-long festivities.

For it is not just the tourists and world-famous performers who flock to the city at this time of year, it is also boom time for criminals.

An Evening News investigation has found the number of prostitutes working the streets and in city saunas soars to cater for the increased demand, drug prices are pushed up while dealers arrive to target the captive market, and pick-pocketing gangs move in to work the city centre.

Extra security is also drafted in to popular venues to deal with troublemakers and under-age drinking, while police officers are paid by venue bosses to carry out extra patrols.

As the Festival kicked off last week, more than 20 prostitutes had posted adverts offering sex for cash from flats in the Capital compared to only nine last December.

Prostitutes from across the world have found their way to Edinburgh for August, including women from Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Italy and Spain.

Many have rented properties right in the heart of the Festival action, with a pair of 26-year-old prostitutes, including one who offers "dominatrix services", taking a flat in Cockburn Street just off the High Street.

One of the women said: "We are here for the whole Festival. It's a great city. We heard it would be a good place to come for the summer so we'll see what happens."

Isabella, a 25-year-old Italian, has also taken up residence in Niddry Street, just yards from the Royal Mile, offering sexual services priced from 40 to 120. She said: "It's a very convenient place."

Other sex workers have snapped up central flats in Haymarket, Leith Walk, Rose Street and Easter Road.

Just three of the prostitutes said they were permanently based in Edinburgh, with the rest only taking up temporary residence.

There are more than a dozen saunas in the city

and one former manager at a city sauna said: "August was our busiest time. We might have served 20 men a day on average but that could easily go up to 30 then. The girls were happy because it meant more money although it also meant they could be very busy.

"The simple fact is that business was best when there was more men about. Football and rugby matches are good for business, but that's mostly at weekends.

"The Festival period is probably better, though, because it's through the week as well.

"Because the police tolerate the saunas and they're licensed, they're attractive to visitors who may come from places where it's not an easy option."

Along with a surge in prostitution, the Festival season brings with it a rise in drug consumption.

In each of the last four years, police have recorded a rise in both drug dealing and possession charges in August when compared to the previous month – in one year the number of charges almost doubled.

John Arthur, manager of the Edinburgh-based Crew 2000 drug support agency, said: "We've been aware for a number of years of a big rise in cocaine use during the Festival, and to a lesser extent speed. Obviously cocaine use is linked to the entertainment industry and the media, both of whom arrive in force for the Festival. It's therefore not surprising

"As a result of increased use and demand, the prices go up. Dealers might charge 50 a gramme for cocaine instead of 35 or 40. That might only be a rise of 20 per cent, but if someone is dealing in ounces then that is 28 times 10.

"We know that supplies of cocaine for regular users who live in Edinburgh becomes more scarce during August."

Most dealers tend to avoid the city's busiest festival venues due to the increased police presence, preferring instead to make deliveries ordered by phone.

Mr Arthur added: "You may see dealers coming in from outside the city, but those operating locally are likely to try and meet the demand.

"Drugs have always been very much part of the Festival culture. It attracts certain types of people and with that the drugs go hand in hand."

Fringe venues owned by Edinburgh University are also paying for extra policing after problems with violence and under-age drinking. The university is shelling out thousands of pound for the round-the-clock cover, with officers on duty around George Square and the Meadows under the arrangement.

The area hosts a number of venues, including the Spiegeltent, the Gilded Balloon, the Pleasance Dome and the Udderbelly. A Gilded Balloon spokesman said the venue took security "very seriously", adding that police often carried out visits and liaise with door staff.

Licensing Standards Officers (LSOs) also carry out more inspections during August, when some clubs are open until 5am, to help reduce alcohol-related violence and under-age drinking.

And more than 40 city nightclubs signed up to the Unight scheme, which is designed to keep out troublemakers from all member venues, have launched a new scheme to coincide with the city's summer festivals.

Tens of thousands of "calling cards" urging nightspot revellers to help bring knife thugs, drug dealers and abusive customers to book are being distributed.

Meanwhile, police are tasked with going after professional pick-pockets and other thieves who prey on visitors in the city centre. In recent years, gangs of pick-pockets from Eastern Europe have been behind dozens of thefts of purses or wallets.

A police source said: "Women working in prostitution will travel to where there is demand to meet so an increase in their numbers at festival time is not surprising. The police monitor where these women are working through the personal ads they place

"There are particular challenges in policing the city centre when its population grows so vastly during August. Individuals involved in bag snatches and pick-pocketing are likely to be more active.The main priority is to ensure residents and visitors are safe to enjoy themselves."

… AND THE PERFORMERS ARE AT IT AS WELL

IT IS not just the audience that will be under the watchful eye of security guards at Fringe venues.

Insiders say drug use continues to be prevalent among performers and others, although it is more discreet than in previous years.

An army of PRs are now on hand to protect their clients and divert attention away from any negative publicity.

A Festival insider said: "There's been a number of performers over the years who built up quite notorious reputations when it came to drugs or sex, particularly comedians. It was a lifestyle but also an image they played up to. Some have calmed down over the years, as the Festival has become more professional."

Another insider said: "You have outrageous characters all in the same space, and that can lead to them trying to upstage each other, or have the best stories to tell. But more of it is hushed up or kept behind closed doors. There's still wild parties where women are more than willing to go home with famous names."