A red light zone has been given the green light in Rome, some distance away from The Vatican.

From April, Rome will officially allow prostitution in the EUR business district south of the city.

Authorities hope the move will help limit the sex industry to a single, non-residential area.

Police will impose fines of up to €500 on prostitutes caught working beyond the district.

However social workers will be provided for those working within it.

If the experiment proves to be a success, the local council wants to set up to three separate red light zones in the area.

But not everyone is happy - objections have been raised by the opposition on Rome's municipal council, church figures and even some within the ruling Democratic Party.

Italy has between 70,000 and 100,000 prostitutes, government and other researchers have estimated.

Some half of these are said to be foreign nationals, and two-thirds work on the streets.

While Italian law does not ban the sale of sex, soliciting, pimping and operating a brothel are illegal.