The Evening Press in York has won praise for its investigation which led to the closure of a brothel and the jailing of the owner.

Hao Wang operated Oriental Rose in a quiet residential street in Clifton Moor, a York suburb.

Chief Reporter Mike Laycock became aware of the problem in 2003 after a local resident complained to him that a string of men, young and old, had been furtively beating a path to the house.

He contacted Oriental Rose, and was told that massages “plus complimentaries” were available.

Then, with a concealed tape recorder in one pocket and a mobile phone in another – allowing colleague Matthew Woodcock to listen in on his conversation – he called at the house.

After being ushered upstairs to a bedroom, Mike asked what was being offered and how much it would cost, and after establishing that a range of sex acts could be bought for between £40 and £60 he made his excuses – “I haven’t got enough money” – and left.

The brothel subsequently closed, to the delight of local residents, and Wang was finally brought to justice this week at Leeds Crown Court, when he was jailed for two years after admitting living off prostitution and also assault causing actual bodily harm. Recorder Ewan Duff also recommended he should be deported.

After the case, police superintendent Howard Harding praised the investigation by the newspaper and his own officers, saying: “It is a good example of the Evening Press and police working together to nip a serious crime in the bud.”

Annie Lambert, the landlady of a second York property where Wang had also set up a brothel without her knowledge, said the paper’s expose had been “wonderful investigative journalism, and good for the community”.