Brothel boss ordered to pay £750,000

the man behind one of Britain's most notorious brothels has been ordered to pay nearly £750,000 from his private fortune or go back to jail for five years.

With his lover Julie Watts, 38, he converted the properties into the "biggest, best and most spectacular pleasure palace", earning more than £1million in four years.

Clients were offered a pole-dancing area, and themed "film star" and "oasis" rooms. Laminated menus advertised a range of services, from 15-minute massages for £30 to a £200 VIP two-girl service, complete with champagne. First-timers got discounts and regulars were treated to a loyalty scheme.

Now Scotland Yard's clubs and vice unit has obtained a court confiscation order forcing him to pay £732,818.78 in the next 12 months or be locked up again. Superintendent Chris Bradford said: "It sends a clear message to those criminals involved in the sex industry. The law has the power not only to impose custodial sentences but also to take away their illegally made money."

Peters was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of eight counts of living off the earnings of prostitutes between January 1999 and last December. During his three-week trial, the jury heard how Bonnie's Mansion in Ilford High Road had its own website. The court heard also that up to 30 working girls, mostly students and single mothers, were employed by Peters.

He even signed himself Simon Peters Pimp in official letters. He was caught after two months' police surveillance.

Peters - who claimed state benefits while paying his £350,000-a-year earnings into a bank account called Women Come First - kept a diary. In one entry he referred to a student who came to him desperate for cash. It read: "She had five minutes to throw on suspenders and a nurse's uniform and 30 minutes later was back in the relaxation room wearing a broad smile. She had just made £50."

Peters, a former British stock-car racing champion and road manager for pop group The Herd, claimed he ran a "gentlemen's club" offering nothing racier than chess and classical music. He was sentenced to 18 months' jail in December but walked free because of time served on remand.