Residents in a Christchurch suburb are furious their city council has again delayed a decision about how to deal with street prostitution in residential areas.
prostitute Photo: RNZ
The council has decided more work is needed before it can finally decide whether new regulation is the answer to moving sex workers into the city, and it's setting up a working group.
St Albans residents have been pleading with the council to do something since the earthquakes, saying they have been abused by sex workers and have had their properties vandalised.
St Albans resident Matt Bonis said the delay was extremely disappointing, and residents had suffered long enough.
A former St Albans resident, Giles Goulden, told the council this morning that the abuse got so extreme he moved his family away from the area, as he feared for their safety.
He believed regulation was the answer.
The council is expected to make a decision based on the findings of the working group in September.
Last month there were complaints from central Christchurch residents who said they were under siege from sex workers, with one Manchester Street resident saying sex workers had been outside his family home almost every night and there had been litter, vandalism and break-ins.
