Scantily clad prostitutes are being pushed out of their neon display windows by fashion mannequins in a battle for control of the busiest red-light district in Europe.

“If you come to this area, you know what you are coming for – and it is not fashion,” Jan Broers, the owner of an hotel and eight prostitute windows, said. “... there are some crazy people in the Government who think they can take control of the whole thing, not only the prostitutes but also the coffee shops.”

The city council claims that the famed Dutch permissiveness, which also turns a blind eye to cannabis being sold in coffee shops, is being exploited by organised crime.