by Anna White

awhite@thekmgroup.co.uk

Three people have been arrested accused of various prostitution offences in Maidstone.

A fourth has been questioned on suspicion of having a weapon.

It follows a swoop by police at around 9pm on Friday at the Stone Court Hotel in Lower Stone Street, as part of an investigation into the supply of controlled drugs.

In total, a 29-year-old man from Maidstone was arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled substances and facilitating prostitution; a 43-year-old man from Folkestone was arrested on suspicion of fraud and facilitating prostitution; a 30-year-old woman from Maidstone was arrested on suspicion of controlling prostitution and a 41-year-old man from Maidstone was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon. All were later released on police bail until 3 August.

Inspector Simon Alland from Kent Police led the warrant.

He said: “This warrant formed part of our on-going work to tackle the supply and use of illegal substances in Maidstone.

"Drug use can cause related crime such as theft and anti-social behaviour and we had seen an increase in anti-social behaviour in the Lower Stone Street area in recent weeks.

"We have a number of initiatives and operations planned over the coming months to continue to disrupt the drugs trade and put anyone who is believed to be involved before the courts.”