Samantha the Sex Doll is a robot sex doll that responds to human touch and remembers how people treat it. Source: CEN
Italy's first sex doll brothel has been raided and shut down by police only nine days after it was first opened.
Offering clients silicone models inside one of its eight private rooms, LumiDolls Torino was found to be breaking Italian laws on renting out accommodation.
The city's health authority isalso investigating if the dolls in the secret establishment situated in the north-western city of Turin are thoroughly cleaned after each use, the Daily Mail reports.
The Lumidolls franchise, which offers the first such service in a country where human prostitutes are illegal, first opened its doors on September 3, with managers confirming they had been 'booked for weeks'.
Charging €80 (NZ$140) for a half-hour session with a "very realistic" silicon doll, patrons can choose from seven different female dolls and one male doll called Alessandro which has an adjustable penis varying from five to seven inches.
The dolls are used in one of eight special rooms equipped with a bed, an en-suite bathroom and a TV screen that shows porn.
Upon opening, the brothel, run by a Spanish company with branches in Moscow and Barcelona, had said: "We are full for weeks with a few small exceptions."
"We have customers who have also booked from Venice and most have chosen the morning or the afternoon for their appointment."
The brothel doesn't open at night and can accept stag-dos and group bookings.
Brothels with human prostitutes are illegal in Italy, though sex work itself is not a crime.
The UK's first sex doll brothel - The Dolly Parlour in Greenwich, south London - opened in March.
