A man who ran a £1.4m UK-wide prostitution business was caught out when a solicitor became suspicious about how he was making his money.

Emil Wakulicz, 32, of Alwinckhill Road, Edinburgh, had been recruiting women from his native Poland to offer sexual services to paying customers in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and Newcastle.

Police finally learned about his activities after a solicitor who was acting for him in a property transaction grew suspicious about how he was making money.

An undercover officer called "Danny" called on one of Wakulicz's employees and gathered enough evidence to bring a prosecution against him.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Wakulicz ran a "highly organised" enterprise, known as Diamond Massage, in which he set up a call centre to manage appointments for his employees.

People would ring through and the operators would "pretend" to be the women who they were going to see.

The customer would then be sent a text message revealing the address of the woman providing the sexual service.

Women he recruited were instructed to answer the door "wearing a sexy dress and heels".

They were also told not to answer the door in lingerie or be half naked to "avoid attracting the attention of any neighbours."

Customers were offered the opportunity to receive a so-called tantric massage. The court heard 85% of Wakulicz's business came from tantric massages, which cost customers £90.

People were also offered a £150 "Diamond" massage in which the masseuse wore "special jewellery".

Speaking at an earlier hearing, depute procurator fiscal Ann McNeill said "Danny" went to the property and spoke to a blonde woman aged between 25 and 30.

She said: "She was wearing a black thigh length dress and black high-heeled shoes. She spoke with an eastern European accent.

"The female showed UCFO Danny into a bedroom at the front of the flat which had the curtains closed."

The depute fiscal continued: "The recruits were informed that if anyone visited unannounced they were to introduce themselves as the girlfriend of the now accused.

"That the services offered were sexual is clearly set out in the contracts, scripts and training materials that the accused provided to the women he recruited."

Wakulicz had earlier pleaded guilty to living on the earnings of prostitution between April 2011 and July 8 2015.

On Wednesday, defence advocate Susan Duff told the court her client had expressed remorse for his actions, and originally thought he had not broken the law.

She also asked the court not to send her client to jail as he cared for his wife.

She added: "He is a decent family man who lives a normal family life."

Jailing him for two years and five months, sheriff Nigel Ross said he had no other alternative but to send Wakulicz to prison as he had exploited the women who had worked for him.

He added: "You ran an entirely illegal business. I have sympathy for your wife and children but the scale of your business means that only a custodial sentence is appropriate."

He was detained in June 2015 and prosecutors believed he had made £1.4m from the time he operated the business. Prosecutors have now launched a proceeds of crime action against the businessman.