AN undercover detective told a jury how he had paid £60 for massage at a Worcester brothel when uniformed colleagues burst in and made arrests.

The officer, with the codename Mark, had gone to a flat in Broad Street known as Mikos Oriental Happy Hour where he was offered full sex at £100 an hour.

"The lady was about to take her clothes off when the door was knocked down by the police," he said.

Judge Alistair McCreath asked how the police knew the time to break in. "I was curious about that myself," said the officer.

Fei Zhang, the boss of a Chinese takeaway in Barking, Essex, has pleaded not guilty at Worcester Crown Court to conspiracy to traffic for the sex trade and conspiracy to control prostitution.

Prosecutor Jonathan Gosling alleges Zhang operated brothels disguised as massage parlours and escort agencies in the Black Country and the West Country.

The detective, who gave evidence from behind a screen, handed his warrant card in an envelope to the judge to verify his identity.

He said he had contacted a mobile number given in a newspaper advert on March 21 last year and was directed to the Broad Street premises. He was offered full and oral sex with women of various ages and was even given their breast sizes.

The officer was ushered in by an oriental man named Ping Pan. Mr Gosling interrupted to say that Ping Pan had pleaded guilty and been dealt with by the court for his part in a conspiracy.

The officer said he was kept waiting for 17 minutes in a corridor before a door was opened by a young woman, accompanied by a man. She asked whether he wanted oil or powder for his massage and when he paid her the £60 she immediately handed it over to the man.

Detective Constable Michael Mills said raids had been carried out on March 21 on several brothels in a co-ordinated operation. These were in Kingswinford Road, Dudley, Darlaston Road, Walsall, and Stafford Road, Wolverhampton. The next day a rented house in Upper Church Street, Bath, was raided but nothing significant was found as it had not begun operating as a brothel.

The trial continues.