A FORMER brothel has become a haven for a more gentle pastime.

The Miss Spiritual Tramp's Knitting Club has set up in The Forth Hotel on Newcastle's notorious Pink Lane.

Fay Nixon, 19, a fine art student at Sunderland University, makes the trip to the Tyneside pub every Tuesday for the club, which meets from 7pm to 9pm.

She said: "It is a bit insane. We always get people asking what we're doing and why we're knitting.

"The club is so much better than knitting on your own. We get a few funny looks, but also a lot of people interested."

Pink Lane was named after the prostitutes who after the Second World War gathered there to ply their trade. Punke or Pink was a slang term for prostitute.