Former Canterbury teacher and brothel manager Tim Blake-Bowell could be back working in schools within three years.

The 51-year-old, jailed in 2009 for running prostitutes from a flat in Wincheap, has been banned from teaching - but can apply to the Secretary of State for Education to be restored to the register of teachers in 2015.

Now calling himself Tim Smith and working as a sports and fitness masseur, Blake-Bowell appeared before the Teaching Agency's disciplinary committee having been found guilty of professional misconduct at a previous hearing.

Agency deputy director Alan Meyrick said: "I have given this decision and the recommendations it contains very careful consideration.

"Mr Blake-Bowell has been convicted of a serious criminal offence. His behaviour therefore clearly brings the teaching profession into disrepute.

"He has failed to uphold the high standards required of the profession. The public need to have confidence in the standards of the teaching profession.

"I support the recommendation that Mr Blake-Bowell be prohibited from teaching. This seems to me to be a proportionate response to a serious conviction that led to the courts imposing both a custodial sentence and a confiscation order."

Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove issued a Prohibition Order removing Blake-Bowell from the teaching register.

The committee ruled Blake-Bowell cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children's home in England.

"he has failed to uphold the high standards required of the profession. the public need to have confidence in the standards of the teaching profession…” – alan meyrick, teaching agency deputy director

He will be allowed to apply to rejoin the teaching register in three years.

Mr Meyrick added: "I support the recommendation that Mr Blake-Bowell be permitted to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach after a three-year period.

"This takes into account the seriousness of the offence, but also recognises the steps that Mr Blake-Bowell has taken towards rehabilitation."

While teaching PE at the King Ethelbert School in Birchington between 2004 and 2007, Blake-Bowell controlled six prostitutes - including his ex-wife Emma - at a rented flat in Gordon Road.

He was jailed for nine months in 2009 after admitting controlling prostitutes for financial gain.

Blake-Bowell, who used to live in Querns Road, now runs a massage company called Relaxing Hands based at his home in Birchington.