Vice police arrested an alleged high-class madam at her luxury home following a probe into a suspected Bradford brothel.

Officers held the woman and seized about £10,000 and catalogues of photographs following an investigation into a massage parlour called Pussycats in Leeds Road.

Detectives have been investigating allegations that the 33-year-old had operated an illegal sex business there for three years up to 2002.

They stressed that the building had since been sold and there was no suggestion that the current owner had been involved in any wrongdoing.

A team of ten officers led by the Bradford Vice Team carried out the dawn raid at the woman's four-bedroom rented luxury home in the exclusive Alwoodley area of Leeds.

Officers wearing protective clothing went to and from the house, provoking stares from neighbours walking their dogs around the leafy suburb, which boasts numerous million-pound homes.

On the drive of the suspect's large detached property, lined with immaculate hedges and a high steel gate, sat a Jaguar car alongside a works van.

After more than two hours of searching the stone-clad house, officers emerged clutching evidence bags which were swiftly ferried to Bradford's Tyrls police station, where the investigation has been based.

As well as the vice team, yesterday's operation was supported by the district's Divisional Policing Unit and West Yorkshire Police's Financial Investigations Unit.

Experts will be called to examine the woman's finances and her sources of income.

The arrested woman was detained in connection with an allegation of controlling prostitutes for gain and also on suspicion of a violent assault on another woman.

She was initially taken to a Leeds police station but transferred to Bradford for questioning by vice team officers. She was later released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Detective Inspector Gary Bates, who heads Bradford Vice Team, said: "If people open legitimate saunas and such places in the city they have nothing to fear.

"If, however, they are thinking about opening brothels masquerading as legitimate establishments there is no doubt at all that they will be getting a visit from the vice team."