Secrets, lies and sex all around

The webpage offers a menu of women and men prepared to do whatever their customers want in exchange for money.

And there is nothing the authorities can do about it.

Gay, straight, or bisexual – 'customers' can pick their 'escort' by location. They can narrow their search down to within a few miles of the first three letters of their postcode.

This is not just in the town and city centres either, but out in the leafy suburbs. There is a 41-year-old called 'Sexy Chanel' working in Tettenhall.

And explicit images of people with their various bits and bumps on display are just a Google search away for anyone with an internet connection.

Years ago, people ran the risk of being caught in undercover stings by the police if they went out kerb-crawling. Adverts in phone boxes have been banned since 2001.

Now they can make the transaction at home, in front of the computer and with the curtains drawn.

So popular is this website with sex workers that there is a waiting list. The Express & Star tested it out to see if it would accept a listing for phone chats and was told it would be early May before it could go live.

People who accept money for sex in Britain are not doing anything illegal, although those who solicit or 'pimp' others through exploitative conduct are.

It is not illegal to advertise sexual services but advertising is subject to a number of legal constraints.

There are also statutory restrictions on how such services are advertised.

The website in question, Adult Work, is based in Malta. It means the once secret world of illicit sex is now hidden in plain sight.

The creators of this particular website even have a Twitter account with more than 14,500 followers, including its escorts who raise technical questions and seek advice the way they would if they were just running a franchise or calling up their company's IT support.

The eBay comparison is an apt one. The website even calls itself 'the eBay of sex'. It takes a cut of its members' takings and also helps its customers by providing a search function in which they can select specific categories.

It offers dirty webcam or phone chats, with its members providing explicit descriptions of the things they are prepared to do alongside little icons to confirm whether they are contactable by phone or by text message.

The words 'available today' are highlighted in green.

Users can be very prescriptive, detailing the dates and times they want, as though they were arranging delivery of a washing machine, or set a spending limit for half hour, hourly or overnight rates. Some will even list their nationalities, their ages and even intimate details of body parts.

One woman, who lists her location as Wolverhampton city centre and claims to be 23 and British Asian, has had almost 50,000 views of her page since joining in February 2013. If potential customers do not like her, they click at the top to look at the next nearest sex worker.

There is another describing herself as British but 'full Indian', aged 25. Within a week of joining the site in mid-March, more than 2,500 people had perused her services.

'Aleesha' says she is not a 'clock watcher' and even lists the proximity of parking to her 'luxury' apartment near Wolverhampton city centre.

On the day the Express & Star looked at the site there were 288 such women listed in Wolverhampton and 71 men, although the males seem to be spread further afield to places like Birmingham and Dudley.

There were 251 women listed in Walsall, 234 in Dudley, 49 in Sandwell and 613 in Staffordshire.

They were all different ages, from 19-year-olds through to a 54-year-old.

The men on the site, while fewer in number, are also a mixed bag. They include a man claiming to be 57 years old and close to Dudley's Merry Hill shopping centre and prepared to provide a service to either gender.

A 27-year-old man in Walsall is also tapping into the recent 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon, offering to be available to women for a full weekend from Friday to Sunday, for £2,000.

Pro rata, that would be a £104,000 a year wage for a three day a week job.

His images are somewhat more clean cut than many, a smart looking young man in a suit.

Indeed Mr Grey, as he calls himself, could easily just have been using them on a dating website if he wasn't looking for money for his companionship.

Another, Big Kad, sits on the bonnet of an expensive-looking Audi. He wants £50 an hour to be an escort, with prices for 'extra services' up for negotiation.

With its technical support and blogs the site has become a virtual community for people to openly discuss their trade in plain sight, when once it would have been done in whispered tones to avoid attracting attention.

Some of the website's users are even able to promote their sense of humour in a dedicated section for jokes.

The website gives a disclaimer saying: "Any money paid to the adult escorts listed on this website is for their time and companionship only. Whatever else that may occur if and when contact is made is the choice of consenting adults."

But from the explicit details and promises made by the members, it is obvious to anyone that time and companionship is far from their minds. Even so, the site is working within the law. Under the law as it stands, all the authorities do when it comes to the sex trade is make sure that the men and women who accept money for sex are not being harmed.

There is a phrase that is often used called 'living off immoral earnings'.

While that applies to prostitution, it is mainly concerned with pimps who control men and women in the sex trade and the money they make.

It is also against the law to manage a brothel, legally defined as somewhere with two or more prostitutes.

The internet has provided a way for those who want to sell sex to cut out the middle man.

In a statement, the Home Office said: "It is not illegal to advertise sexual services, however, advertising is subject to a number of legal constraints, including a specific ban on the use of advertising cards in telephone boxes.

"There are also statutory restrictions on how such services are advertised and in exceptional cases, the advertising by third parties of such services may be an offence under common law, such as conspiracy to corrupt public morals. It is an offence to pay for sexual services with a prostitute who is subject to exploitative conduct, such as force, deception or threats –men found guilty face a criminal record and a £1,000 fine.

The government believes individuals who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to find routes out."

Crime prevention minister, Norman Baker, said: "The most important thing we can do is to ensure we protect the vulnerable people who are at risk of harm and exploitation.

"If a publication or website is thought to be acting illegally, in particular such as offering the services of someone aged under 18 or a victim of trafficking, we expect the police to investigate and the Crown Prosecution Service to consider prosecution."

Sex for sale is no longer confined to kerbs in the back streets.

It is in ordinary homes, in the cities and in the suburbs.