TO the well-heeled residents of the neighbourhood it looked like any other imposing manor house in the sleepy Hampshire village.

But behind the curtains of the exclusive detached house lay the sordid secret that the luxury property was actually being used as a brothel.

Southampton Crown Court heard how married couple Laura Phillips and John Fellingham ran the brothel making more than £160,000 in little over a year.

The veneer of respectability was shattered by Hampshire vice squad officers who raided the house after concerns were raised by residents living in the village of North Gorley, near Fordingbridge.

Phillips, of Linwood, near Ringwood, admitted two counts of running a brothel while Fellingham, who gave the same address, pleaded guilty to one charge of assisting in the management of the brothel.

Judge Jeremy Burford handed Phillips a seven-month prison term, suspended for two years, with an order she completes 200 hours of unpaid work, along with a supervision order.

Fellingham was handed a six-month jail term which was suspended for two years.