A new directory ranking the borough’s prostitutes on a five-star scale could be investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

McCoy’s Guide to the Working Ladies of London lists the contact details, specialisms and charging policies of 17 women with names ranging from Kinkwhore to Zeena in the royal borough.

The £10 tome, which details working women as far and wide as Epsom to Wimbledon and Croydon, has been snapped up by 500 gentlemen, including viscounts and knights of the realm, since it was published before Christmas, author George McCoy claimed.

The 63-year-old retired seller of vinyl records, who has also written a book called Guide to the Agencies, Corrective Services and Parlours of London, said he took all the measures he could to ensure those listed work of their own free will, and had no moral qualms about his work.

He said: “I think we have far too many people in this world telling us how to behave.

“Obviously we want to give a good example to the youth of the country, but you should be free to do what we want as long as it’s not going to harm anyone else.”

However, Kit Malthouse, deputy Mayor of London with responsibility for policing, said he would ask the Met to investigate the legality of the book.

He said: “It strikes me that reviewing human beings in the same way as a restaurants is repellent.

“The thing people forget is that the world of organised prostitution is also a world of organised crime, drug dealing and abuse.

“Anything like this that tries to sanitise it is revolting.”

However, Mr McCoy said he thought the police would “be wasting their time”.

He said: “There have been far more blatant cases that have been taken to court and people were found not guilty.

“I’m not saying it’s legal, but all sorts of things are illegal. It’s a question of whether it’s in the public interest to take me to court.”

A Met Police spokesman said they would consider investigating when they received information from Mr Malthouse.

A spokesman said: “The Metropolitan Police Service’s human exploitation and organised crime command responds to, and builds up, intelligence pictures in areas of the sex industry where the most harm may be done.

“Our primary aim is to make London a hostile environment for traffickers and those who exploit people to operate in.”