The streets home to the Tunbridge Wells brothels hidden in plain sight

Every town has its secrets.

That is certainly true of Tunbridge Wells, where an organised crime gang was recently busted for running a chain of hidden brothels.

Raking in an estimated £557,000 across its sex houses in the South East, the gang collected weekly takings of £10,000.

Central to this operation were brothels on Rock Villa Road, Lime Hill Road and Dudley Road near Tunbridge Wells town centre.

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Young women, often Chinese or East Asian, were advertised in Friday Ad and on explicit adult websites as "high quality" and then put to work in the brothels, referred to by those involved as "shops".

Dongning Zhang, 35, a law graduate and former court clerk in his native China, was described as "the boss" of the sex operation.

He and his partner Shuangyan Hu, 37, ran the network from their home in Harrow while Kai Shao, 62, acted as "babysitter and housekeeper" for the prostitutes.

Following a series of raids they were eventually arrested and at trial were jailed for a total of nine years and five months.

In fact, during one such raid, officers were met by Shao, known as "Big Uncle", and a sex worker scantily dressed in a cheerleader's outfit with £1,000 cash.

We paid a visit to these streets to speak to those that live nearby and find out how much they knew about what was really going on under the cover of darkness.

'I always thought Tunbridge Wells was a posh place'

Pat Johnson, who turned 100 years old last December, has lived along Rock Villa Road since 1982.

Although surprised by the revelation, she also saw a lighter side to the events.

She explained: “I know the bloke who lives in number six and he found out.

“I just thought it was funny more than anything. I wasn’t disgusted because it goes on [everywhere].

“We’ve got that turning there [across the road] and it’s full of it every night, people selling drugs,” she added.

“My carer goes home after 7pm and she says there’s always somebody doing drugs down there or sitting on the road all along there.

“You get so used to it you don’t take any notice of it.”

She continued: “I was surprised because it’s Tunbridge Wells. I always thought Tunbridge Wells was a posh place and didn’t do anything like that.

“I thought it was quite sort of gentile and people weren’t like that but it has got much rougher and there’s a lot more trouble.

“It has changed a lot since 1982.”

'I’ve always heard rumours'

A 37-year-old man, who lives in town and works near the centre said: “I wasn’t surprised, at all, because Dudley Road and York Road have been renowned for if for years.

“I’ve lived in Tunbridge Wells my whole life. It’s always been known.”

He added: “I’ve always heard rumours, not from personal experience but I’ve always heard rumours and I know somebody years ago who said he’d been to one on York Road, Dudley Road.”

'At least it’s not drugs or violence'

In contrast, a 40-year-old woman who has lived along Lime Hill Road for six years was shocked by the news.

She said: “I was completely unaware. I didn’t even know there were raids or anything.

“I like living here, you don’t feel like you’re in the town even though you are quite close to the centre.

“I think of all of them it’s probably the best it could be,” she continued.

“At least it’s not drugs or violence.

“If I was on the edge of town I would be more shocked.

“Things like that, if they are going to happen, they are going to happen in the town aren’t they really.”

'You don’t expect it in a quiet town like this'

A 22-year-old man who also asked not to be named, was equally surprised.

He said: “I lived on Hannover Road for about a year. It runs parallel to Rock Villa Road.

“I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for the news coverage.”

“I was quite shocked because you don’t expect it in a quiet town like this,” he continued.

“Also, the fact there were three brothels all run by the same gang, it sounds like it was quite a prolific thing.

“But to live so close to one without ever knowing – and also the fact I could also look out and see the exact flat where it happened - is quite concerning.

“I guess these things just happen right under our noses without people ever knowing about them.”