A BUSINESSMAN who sold sex near York Minster has been ordered to hand over more than £265,000.

Barry Abrahams ran a brothel behind the front of a legitimate tanning salon in Little Stonegate, charging thousands of men £55 a time for sex with prostitutes.

Police found the business funded a lavish lifestyle for the 63-year-old, including two houses, a Porsche car, and trips to Thailand.

At York Crown Court on Wednesday, Recorder Euan Duff ordered Abrahams to hand over £267,806 within six months or face three years and two months in prison.

Abrahams is already subject to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he admitted running a brothel and laundering its profits in 2007 and 2008.

Detective Inspector Ian Wills, the head of North Yorkshire Police’s financial investigation unit, said: “The cash Barry Abrahams made while running the brothel and exploiting vulnerable women helped to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included numerous trips to Thailand.

“The confiscation order made against him represents one of the largest orders of this kind ever made by North Yorkshire Police.”

He said his team would vigorously pursue the assets of others who live off crime.

Financial investigator Teresa Bentley spent months tracking down Abrahams’ assets and the brothel’s financial dealings.