It shall be an offence for a common prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution.

A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale, as defined in section 75 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982, or, for an offence committed after a previous conviction, to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 3 on that scale.

A constable may arrest without warrant anyone he finds in a street or public place and suspects, with reasonable cause, to be committing an offence under this section.

For the purposes of this section “street” includes any bridge, road, lane, footway, subway, square, court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, which is for the time being open to the public; and the doorways and entrances of premises abutting on a street (as hereinbefore defined), and any ground adjoining and open to a street, shall be treated as forming part of the street.

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