While acknowledging that any number of girls working on the streets is a problem, Chief Supt McKay stressed the numbers of girls out at any one time is “very small”.

However, he admitted, even a couple of girls out working the streets causes concern to residents.

“Yes we have arrested prostitutes and kerb crawlers, but reference to a flood of prostitutes is inaccurate and over emphasises quite significantly the problem.”

The newspaper also sought to paint a picture of prostitutes being picked up in the middle-class, leafy suburbs of the city, while at the same time pinpointing the problem areas as being Stobswell, Blackscroft and East Dock Street.

The report also claimed well-heeled businessmen from other cities were kerb crawling in Dundee in their sports cars and top-of-the-range 4x4s as word of the “vice explosion” has spread.

A new vice unit, it also claimed, had been set up in the city to combat the growing prostitution problem.

Chief Supt McKay denied that was the case saying, “There has been no new vice unit set up.

“Tayside Police Community Task Force has been working in the Operation Waterloo area for some time, covering all types of anti-social behaviour, drugs, youth problems, alcohol-related crime, house-breaking, car crime and other issues which cause distress to the public, like prostitution.

“They are not there primarily because there has been an explosion of prostitution in the area, it’s just one aspect of their work.

“I have yet to see well-off men from Edinburgh or Glasgow kerb crawling in Dundee, there is no evidence of that.”

The chief supt pointed out that criminality was not the only aspect of prostitution police are now focusing on.

He illustrated the partnerships they have with other agencies like the Vice Versa team, a Scottish Government-funded project set up to tackle street prostitution by assisting the women involved with harm reduction, and to find new directions in life.

“Yes we recognise that regardless of however many are out there they are causing risk to themselves and we are keen to work with other agencies in partnership to push them away from prostitution and improve the lives of any person who engages in this type of activity.

“Obviously I am concerned that there are any females out there who have to resort to selling themselves to fund their way of life,” he said.

“They are putting themselves at risk, both in terms of their health and their personal safety.

“We will do anything we can do to reduce that risk and we are working closely with the Vice Versa team to try to do that.”

Detective Inspector Colin Gall, in charge of Tayside Police’s Public Protection Unit in Dundee said, “The traditional approach to policing prostitution has been to solely use enforcement against the prostitutes themselves.

“However, this approach has little impact on those who engage in this activity and has failed to take account of the underlying reasons why individuals prostitute themselves.

“It has not always dealt with the kerb crawler as a criminal. Without kerb crawlers there would be no street prostitution.

“Dundee has its fair share of problems associated with prostitution. There is the criminal element, the health implications, and increasingly the public intolerance of individuals who live in areas where known prostitutes operate.

“In Dundee we have over one hundred active prostitutes, many of whom tend to favour the Blackscroft and Stobswell areas.

“Helping to get women out of prostitution is not something Tayside Police can do alone.

“That is why we work very closely with other agencies such as those in the Vice Versa project.”

The newspaper also said there were more than 100 hookers working in Dundee, however Chief Supt McKay stressed that while there were around that number of people working in prostitution in the city, there were in reality only around a dozen girls active at any one time.

“That figure includes everybody we’ve ever come into contact with over the last few years or so,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean there are more than 100 prostitutes out on the streets at the same time, it’s the overall figure and it includes some who won’t even be involved any more.

“Some girls might just have done it the once.”

Dundee City Council administration leader Councillor Ken Guild reacted angrily to the newspaper article saying, “I am very disappointed that there have been unwarranted slurs on Dundee and its image.

“The evidence I have is that there are a number of prostitutes in Dundee as there are in all major cities, but the problem appears to be a minor one compared to other cities.

“Also any newspaper which prints maps of alleged prostitution hotspots actually encourages people to come from outwith Dundee to find a scene which doesn’t exist.

“The council gives its full backing to any schemes which aim to prevent the spread of prostitution.”