THE number of prostitutes on the streets of a Teesside town has been more than halved, according to new figures.

Barnardo's Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Streets (Secos) project, which helps women and children quit prostitution in Middlesbrough, said the number of girls it works with has falled from 250 in 1999 to 109 last year.

Secos project manager Wendy Shepherd said the figures illustrate how the charity is effectively helping women in the red-light trade.

She said a police crackdown on kerb-crawlers has also helped deter men travelling to the area to fuel the sex trade.

Mrs Shepherd said: "We are delighted with the achievement. So many people have put in a lot of time and effort.

"We know the two-pronged approach with policing and support of the services are what has made the difference."

Officers have targeted hundreds of punters in the past five years and more than 100 in the past 18 months.

A network of cameras was set up to record vehicle registration numbers of kerb-crawlers at prostitution hot spots.

Inspector Gary Gamesby, head of the vice unit at Cleveland Police, said: "These figures confirm our evidence of a definite reduction of prostitutes working on the streets of Middlesbrough.

"Tactics including high profile targeting of kerb-crawlers, anti-social behaviour orders for persistent street workers and CCTV cameras are now coming to fruition."