TWO North-East teenagers have agreed to tell their harrowing stories of real-life sex abuse in an attempt to help others.

The youngsters, a boy and a girl and both from Teesside, escaped a life of prostitution with the help of social workers working for the children's charity Barnardo's.

Both young people have agreed to tell their stories for a film commissioned by the charity to be used in the training of professionals.

It will also serve as a warning to other teenagers, when it is shown in secondary schools and youth clubs.

Barnardo's is behind the Secos (Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Streets) project in Middlesbrough, which aims to rescue youngsters from being forced into a life of vice.

Both the young stars of the DVD Invisible Lives, Strong Voices got involved in abusive relationships which led to them selling their bodies on the streets of Middlesbrough. The girl was abused by her mother's boyfriend, her own father and an uncle.

She said: "I was used to being involved with abusive people, if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have been drawn to abusive men, like my boyfriend."

Both youngsters, their faces hidden by masks to conceal their identity, make a powerful plea for professionals and people in general to look behind the bad behaviour of some children and to be suspicious - and to even interfere more.

The girl says in the film: "No-one thought to wonder why a 13-year-old girl was shoplifting bottles of whisky. I was forced to do it for my dad. I really needed to be taken away and put into foster care."

The boy says: "People need to know what's happening out there, but they often turn a blind eye. I was 12 when I started doing drugs. Mam didn't care - all she cared about was her boyfriend. No one wanted to know me. I was 13, 14 when my so-called friends said prostitution was an easy way to make money. But you don't realise how dirty and horrible it all is.

"I haven't had a normal life, I've had a rotten life. But things have started to look up - I'm in rehab, I'm back with my mam. Things can only get better. Can't they?"

Copies of the DVD are available for £25 from Barnardo's North-East, on 01642-819742.