Bar escorts were fined by police for wearing Girl Scout uniforms to entertain customers in Thailand.

The sex workers wore the distinctive green and yellow costumes of the institution - highly revered in the country - while they were dancing provocatively for drinkers in Chonburi.

However, footage of the degenerate behaviour emerged online and police swooped on the venue in the Sattahip district on August 23.

Police Colonel Panya Damlek, superintendent of the local station, arrested the women and charged them with 'violating Section 69 of the Scout Act'.

Footage shows them looking sheepish while giving their details at the station at 1 am this morning.

The police chief said: 'Officers received reports from several concerned residents who had seen videos of the bar workers wearing the Girl Scout uniform.

'It was deemed to be illegal and I immediately ordered the arrest of all the people involved. They have apologised and they have been warned never to wear the uniform again.'

Officers said that following the incident, each of the girls was fined 1,000 baht (22.53 GBP) by the police.

The offenders claimed they were unaware that it was a crime to wear the green and yellow uniform of the Scouts. They said it happened on August 18 during a birthday party for a guest.

Police said they were treated with leniency because it was their first offence but warned they could be jailed if they committed further offences.

The law states that 'whoever dresses in a Scout uniform or adorns themselves with Scout symbols without rights to do so, for deceiving other persons, or dresses in imitation or adorns themselves with Scout symbols to deceive other persons into believing that they are a Scout or Scout personnel, shall be punished with imprisonment for not over one month or a fine up to 1,000 Baht, or both.'

The Girl Scouts and Girl Guides are both youth organizations for girls, that began in the United States in 1912.

The Girl Scouts is the name used in the United States and some other countries while in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, the term Girl Guides is used. Girl Guides wear blue uniforms.