Detectives who cracked a £1m Surbiton brothel empire have described how Asian women were tricked into prostitution.

Michael Dalton, 43, was found guilty by a jury yesterday of making a million pounds in six years with his partner Nikki Chen, 56, who pleaded guilty at the start of a trial.

Police said the women were forced to have sex to pay off the debts incurred bringing them into the UK, paying for a lavish lifestyle for Chen and Dalton in their home in Kingston Road, Leatherhead.

The pair had Mercedes and Lamborghini sports cars and property in Dursley, Gloucestershire, which will be taken off them under the proceeds of crime act.

Ian Garrett, 43, of Kingston Road, Epsom, also admitted conspiring to traffic women in the UK.

Garrett was seen carrying luggage that belonged to trafficked South East Asian women when he escorted them to the brothels in Surbiton, Egham, West Drayton and Sunbury.

Manjit Singh, 33, of Boyn Hill, Maidenhead, also pleaded guilty to trafficking, and three women earlier admitted running the brothels and were sentenced to up to three months each before deportation.

All four will be sentenced on June 11.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, head of the Met's Human Exploitation and Organised Crime Command, said: "Chen, Dalton and their co-conspirators had a blatant disregard for the women they had brought into, and moved around the UK, with the promise of a better life.

"The young women they controlled were exploited and obliged to have sex with in excess of 12 strangers a day, in order to pay off the debts they had accrued in being trafficked to the UK on false passports and visas on the promise of a better life.

"Some did not know that they would have to work as prostitutes in the UK.

"Nikki Chen and Michael Dalton took the vast majority of the cash they made through their illegal activities to fund their lavish lifestyles, living in expensive houses and driving luxury sports cars.

"Fortunately, their criminality came to our attention and they have now been convicted for the fear and exploitation they caused.

"Any woman who is being violated by people like Chen and Dalton should not be afraid to come forward and tell police how they are being forced to live.

"We always treat them with the respect they deserve and will obtain help for them to move on with their lives."