BOSCOMBE'S much-maligned police box is being used as a 'notice board' to advertise escort services – less than a fortnight after 'call me 4 weed' was scrawled on it.

Cards advertising a 'girls and guys escort and massage service' based in Charminster Road have been placed on the Tardis, which stands in full view of a CCTV camera in Boscombe Precinct.

It comes days after residents said the box was being 'used as a notice board for drug dealers' when a mobile phone number was etched on a plaque bolted onto the side.

The box, which was unveiled in April 2014, has attracted vandals on a number of occasions in recent years. Last year, it was heavily daubed in graffiti.

The Tardis was initially installed in the precinct in a bid to deter criminals. Officials from Dorset Police said the box would be staffed "as much as is operationally possible during the trading hours in the precinct".

But traders and those living in the area said they now rarely see officers at the site, and staff are no longer permanently based at the police box itself.

The force doesn't own the police box, and a spokesperson yesterday said resources are focused primarily on mobile patrols in the area.

Both the police and the council are aware of the escort cards, and they will be removed, the official said.