The owner of a business located near an Edmonton prostitute stroll wants pay phones in the area removed, saying the phone booths attract drug dealers and other criminals.

Bernie O'Ray, the manager of The Bargain Shop at 103 Street and 118 Avenue, says at least one pay phone near his business is used for making drug deals.

'You'll see the money exchanging; you'll see the envelopes exchanging. You know what's going on.'-Bernie O'Ray

"You'll see them lined up out there, using the telephone," he said.

"Within 10 minutes or 15 minutes you'll see the cars pulling up on the parking lot. You'll see the money exchanging; you'll see the envelopes exchanging. You know what's going on."

He says the phones are affecting his business and they need to go.

"We had a situation here a couple nights ago where we had customers in the store afraid to leave because there was a bunch of kids fighting right outside in front of the doors."

Only emergency calls at night

Peter Rausch, the organizer of the local business association, says five of about 20 phones on the avenue are now on a curfew, so from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. they can only be used for 911 calls.

Rausch says it's hard to remove the pay phones because residents need them.

"Some people don't have cells or phones at home in this area and that's the way they have to make their calls," he said.

The pay phones that posed the biggest problems have been dealt with, he said, "and if something new comes up we'll address it then."

Edmonton police are working to clean up the area. In July, officers put up signs along 118th Avenue that will advertise a number for an answering machine in the vice unit.

People spotting suspicious activity can call in vehicle descriptions, licence plate numbers and other details. Beat officers will also hand out cards to people who live in the area so they can jot down descriptions of what they see.