Crawley News reporter Michael Connellan found his pictures as well as his words splashed all over the front page.

His exclusive photos of furious landlords evicting prostitutes who had turned a flat into a brothel were used as the lead pictures.

They were part of Michael’s investigation into Crawley’s vice trade, which uncovered eight houses where sex was on sale.

He discovered that two eastern European women had set up a brothel above a shop overlooking a school.

When Michael confronted the landlord he had no idea what his property was being used for and stormed the small flat with fellow workers to chase the women out.

They tried to hide their faces with huge dark glasses and put coats over their head as they ran off shouting and screaming down the road.

Armed with a digital camera, Michael snapped the amazing scenes from the pavement.

Content editor Harriet Shelley said: “His quick thinking after confronting the owners of this particular brothel produced some brilliant pictures that were the obvious choice for the splash.

“It was a serious and well researched investigation and Michael did the News proud.”

The investigation and pictures were used in the paper the same week as an exclusive story by fellow News reporter Adrian Pearson about kits used to prepare Class A drugs being sold to children as young as 12.

The “chop-up” kits, used to prepare cocaine, contain razor blades, mirrors, a metal straw for snorting, a spoon and plastic container.

While police blasted traders who sold the kits as “highly immoral” and “profiting from the drugs trade”, they said they were not illegal.

The News has now handed all the evidence it collected for the vice investigation – as well as the “chop-up” kit – to police.