IT seems quiet enough but this row of cottages was once home to prostitutes.

The row of handloom weavers' cottages in Ramsgreave near Blackburn, built in 1841-42, were once also known as Paris Houses.

And their association with the 'naughty' French capital came about because the women living there - many of whom were married - supplemented their income from weaving by engaging in part-time prostitution.

The cottages became called 'Little Paris', although the prefix had been dropped by the time of the 1851 census.

A more modern tale is when police and council officials launched a £10,000 crackdown in 2009 in Bank Top, Blackburn when residents complained of up to 15 or 16 prostitutes turning the area into East Lancashire's biggest red light district.