by Anna White

awhite@thekmgroup.co.uk

A Maidstone hotel has been closed down by magistrates in the first case of its kind in Kent.

The Stone Court Hotel in Lower Stone Street, Maidstone must remain shut for three months after police successfully applied for a premises closure under the Sexual Offences Act.

Anyone found in the hotel during the closure period could be liable to up to 51 weeks' imprisonment and a £5,000 fine.

It follows the arrest of three people on suspicion of prostitution offences. A fourth person was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.