"No one cares about prostitutes till they start getting killed."

It is a bold statement made as police hunt the killer of five prostitutes in Ipswich but, as a former working girl in Southend, Coral knows the harsh realities of life on the streets.

Aged 20 she began selling sex as means to fuel her drug habit.

She said: "It is easy for people to judge and say they are just prossies so what do you expect?' or if they didn't put themselves out there then it wouldn't have happened', but you can see no way out and no other way to get cash.

"Prostitution is not something that is going away. Don't they call it the oldest profession? So more needs to be done to make it safer."

While open about being a prostitute, Coral remains cagey about how she ended up in the sex industry but believes more needs to be done to safeguard sex workers.

"You do think in the back of your mind that any punter could turn out to be a nutter," she recalled, "but to be honest most of the blokes I met were just sad and lonely and to put it politely wanted female company'.

"Occasionally you would meet a guy who thought he had the right to treat you like dirt just cos he was paying you.

"And some do get a kick from being abusive."

Coral spent five years working the streets. She was beaten up twice by clients and was even raped by a man who approached her on the pretence of buying sex.

But it was the prospect of earning up to £150 a night which kept her working.

"You do get used to reading the signs and work on instinct, " she said.

"There are things you do to try and stay safe but you are always gonna be vulnerable just because of what you do.

"But sometimes you need the cash so badly that you take more risks and you go back out there."

Coral believes ideas such as creating "tolerance zones" could help, allowing prostitutes to work unchecked by the police during certain hours.

She explained: "When police crack down it makes things worse.

"Girls go out and try and work more to beat the crackdown in areas they don't know.

"At least when the area is known, they help to look after each other and punters know there is police about and they might be less likely to get heavy with a girl."

Coral said she feels sympathy for the families of the Ipswich Ripper's victims, some of whom did not know they were prostitutes.

"Once you start hooking, it becomes a way of life and you become numb to it," she said.

"People forget that behind the label prostitute' there is a woman. She will always be someone's daughter.

"It is not until something like this happens that the business gets highlighted and people start giving a sh*t about what it's like to work the streets."