Seventeen-year-old Carol (Christina Gregg) flees her small-town home to escape from her alcoholic stepfather, and heads off to London to live with her aunt. Once in London she is drawn to the sleazy excitement of Soho and finds work in a coffee bar. She falls in love with handsome young nightclub singer Joe Shane (Conrad) and soon they are a couple. She then discovers that Joe is a small-time crook on the side, with a gang background and a line in petty burglary.