We must deal with kerb crawlers, says Cameron in Yorkshire

More on the Bradford killings, with video

Speaking after Stephen Griffiths appeared in court charged with murdering the three women, Mr Cameron - who had spent the day in Yorkshire meeting business leaders - said problems of kerbcrawling and drug abuse needed to be dealt with.

He said the issue of decriminalising prostitution should be "looked at again" but added that it would not be wise to jump to conclusions.

Speaking to the BBC, the Prime Minister said: "To lose a family member is hard enough but to lose one in these awful circumstances with so many awful memories of what happened in the past is truly terrible.

"I just hope that the police do everything they can to make sure this case goes to court as fast as possible so people feel they can start to rebuild their lives all over again but I recognise what a terrible shock it is for everyone."

Mr Cameron added: "I think we have to deal with the causes of this problem. The causes are drug abuse - a massive problem - we've got to get to grips with drug abuse. I think we've also got to do more to get people who are involved in prostitution to have a job to help rebuild their lives.

"Also, I think we've got to be much tougher on kerbcrawling. It is illegal, that aspect of it we really should clamp down on."

He said people would want to learn lessons from the case in Ipswich, where lorry driver Steve Wright killed five prostitutes. "The police (there) did try new approaches and worked with other agencies to do everything they could to try and deal with the problem," he said.

Asked if prostitution should be decriminalised, Mr Cameron replied: "I dare say it should be looked at again. I don't think we should jump to conclusions on this - there are all sorts of problems that decriminalisation would bring.

"The first step is learn the lessons of what has worked elsewhere: tough on kerbcrawling, deal with problems of drug abuse, help prostitutes out of this industry, make sure all agencies work together. That would be a good start."