A Soho brothel shut by police earlier this month can re-open after a judge agreed with testimony from prostitutes and locals - including a vicar - in support of the working girls.

Metropolitan police officers and Westminster Council applied for a closure order against two flats at 61 Dean Street claiming they brought anti-social behaviour to the area, but Mr Justice Riddle dismissed the order at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court last Wednesday.

The police claimed the brothel, which is in the heart of Soho, encouraged antisocial behaviour outside the building, citing claims that a man had been attacked at the entrance to the flats.

But no crime report was lodged, leaving the police without a witness and a case based on hearsay.

A large group of prostitutes and their maids attended the hearing, alongside residents and Father David Gilmore, rector of St Anne's church, to deny the existence of brothels causes antisocial behaviour.

The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) hailed the victory as a milestone which will keep Soho's prostitutes safe and off the streets.

But it cautioned of future attempts to criminalise London's working girls through antisocial behaviour laws and the new Policing and Crime Bill currently before Parliament.

A spokeswoman for the ECP said: "Our efforts backed by the local community ensured that, on this occasion, women got justice.

"But the fundamental injustice remains. Thousands of women, children and men are criminalised every year, losing their homes, earnings and savings, their movements restricted, and often ending up in jail for breaching an order which was against natural justice in the first place."

Westminster Council has repeatedly attempted to 'clean-up' Soho, enforcing compulsory purchase orders on dozens of Soho flats used to sell sex and applying for closure orders on many others.

The ECP says the clampdown will force girls onto the streets and into danger.

Soho has been home to prostitutes for at least 350 years and is thought to be one of the safest places for working girls in the country.

The ECP spokeswoman added: "The police know very well that the criminalisation of many activities related to sex work and the stigma sex workers face as a result - even when their activities are within the law - prevent women from coming forward. As a result, most women are unable to defend themselves against false charges based on misinformation or outright lies."

Members of the House of Lords who oppose the new Policing and Crime Bill, which will criminalise people profiting from sex - including prostitute's maids, recently visited Soho to meet sex workers, most of whom are mothers, to find out about their lives.