Sex ad ban has cost Newsquest more than £200,000 in one region, Commons told

A House of Commons committee looking at sex trafficking has been told that the ban on sex ads imposed by Newsquest on its local papers last July has cost it over £200,000 in one region alone.
The Home Affairs Committe report on Human Trafficking in the UK published this month reveals: "A few weeks before it was scheduled to appear before us, Newsquest decided to stop taking classified advertisements for 'adult' services, which, we were told, had resulted in a substantial loss of income—between £200,000 and £250,000 for the Hampshire region alone.
"The Editor-in-Chief of the Southern Daily Echo, representing Newsquest, said that he had become aware of such adverts creeping into newspapers only over the previous ten years. We also asked what, if anything, had happened to the adverts his group now rejected. He reported that the Hampshire police thought they were moving onto the Internet."
The committee said: "We welcome Newquest's decision; and urge other local newspapers to follow that lead."
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See also Pressure on local press to ban axe sex ads