SINGAPORE - Singapore's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix race this weekend has revved up demand for "social escort" services from high-flying executives, a newspaper reported Thursday.

High-end social escort agencies say business is up by 20 percent as a result of the F1 race, with one client reportedly paying 40,000 Singapore dollars (28,368 US) for a six-hour booking, The Straits Times said.

Singapore Escort Services, which said it was handling the booking, declined to give more details but said it has already closed five deals compared with two or three on a normal weekend, the report said.

"This is the best weekend this year," the agency's owner, Prince Wong, was quoted as saying.

He will pocket more than 50,000 dollars in escort fees this weekend alone, nearly as much as what he earns in a regular month, the report said.

At another agency, David McBright, a manager was quoted as saying it already had 18 bookings, up from two to five on normal weekends.

The Singapore Model Escort website was offering special F1 discounts of 50 percent or more for bookings with the agency, which asked: "What are you waiting for? Check out our social escorts and book now."

According to The Straits Times report, a social escort's main job is to smile and to entertain the client and his friends in small talk. It said the agencies made clear that sexual services were not part of the deal.

Prostitution is legal in Singapore, but pimping and soliciting in public are not.

Many low-end prostitutes from overseas work out of brothels or on the street in the Geylang red-light district, which will be far from the Formula One action.