THREE men who made as much as £400,000 from a string of brothels, including one in Worcester, have been jailed for a combined total of 10 years.

The three Chinese nationals were also warned by Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins that it was highly likely they would be deported following the completion of their prison sentences.

The brothels employed vulnerable women, already illegally smuggled into Britain, and used a ‘chicken-house’ system, moving them on from one to another.

Laura Hobson, prosecuting at Hereford Crown Court, said Cheng Zhao Su, Ziqian Liu and Bochao Nan helped run six brothels in Worcester as well as others across the Midlands. Another three men and a woman have already been sentenced for their involvement.

In one of the brothels they had rented in Barbourne Walk, Worcester, suspicion was aroused when the landlord heard reports of men hanging around outside.

When he investigated he found baby oil and condoms in a room lit by a red light bulb. Miss Hobson said the owner saw “a Chinese woman dressed only in a dressing gown”.

Other brothels were in Middle Street, Lower Chestnut Street and Wood Terrace, all in the Arboretum area of Worcester, as well as Checketts Lane in the city’s Northwick district and Bromyard Road in St John’s.

Others were said to operate from Comberton Road, Kidderminster, as well as addresses in Leamington Spa, Cheltenham, Birmingham and Coventry.

Chinese restaurant owner Su, aged 41 and Liu, 24, both of Weoley Castle, Birmingham, admitted two counts of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, along with controlling prostitution for gain. Nan, 27, also of Weoley Castle, was found in a previous trial to be not guilty of trafficking, but guilty of managing a brothel.

Miss Hobson said Su was at the top of the organisation, while Liu and Nan were high-level managers.

Sean Caulfield, representing Su, said his client had been in the UK since 1989 following political upheaval in his country.

He said Su believed himself to be a British citizen and pointed out that the prostitutes interviewed had been there of their own free will, and had not been brought into the country by the group.

Lee Marklew, representing Liu, said his client had arrived in the country in 2002 to study and was fluent in English. Ater working in Su’s kitchens he was offered a job he could not refuse.

He denied Liu was a high- level manager, and had picked up girls from the station on a pre-arranged basis and had not made much money from the enterprise.

Representing Nan, Adam Western, said there was no evidence of “significant monies or that he was leading a lavish lifestyle”.

Su was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years, Liu to two-and-a-half years and Nan to two years and nine months.