Switzerland opens drive in 'sex boxes' to make prostitution safer

The site is only open to drivers of cars – pedestrians and men on motorbikes are not allowed – and will operate from early evening until 5am each day.

The sex boxes are one of several measures intended to reduce the large numbers of prostitutes plying their trade in residential areas and in the city centre, including a ban on soliciting along the Sihlquai river embankment.

Men who solicit street workers outside three new approved zones, including the cluster of sex boxes, will face fines of up to 450 francs (£310).

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\"We want to regulate prostitution because until now it was the law of the jungle,\" said Michael Herzig, from Zurich's social welfare department, when the initiative was announced.

\"It was the pimps who decided the prices, for instance. We are trying to reach a situation which is better for the prostitutes themselves, for their health and security and also for people who live in Zurich.\"

The £1.4 million project was approved by voters in Zurich last year in a referendum.

While prostitution is legal in Switzerland, sex workers have to pay a tax of five Swiss francs (£3.50) each night that they work.

Zurich authorities said the number of prostitutes working in the city had increased markedly in recent years, with many of them coming from Easte Europe, particularly Hungary.