A mother of two from Middlesbrough has been recruited by crime fighters in Florida.

Forget Crockett and Tubbs, Wendy James from Ormesby is going to be tackling real Miami Vice as crime scenes investigator with the Florida Sheriff's department - after a jobs search over the Internet.

The 37-year-old has just gained a Bachelor of Science, Honours, degree in crime scene science and, on the strength of it, the top job with US crime busters.

She, painter and decorator husband, Lenny, and children Kirsty, 15, and Dominic, 11, fly off to their new life in the States, next year.

The former mature student who got her degree at the University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, says she was amazed to be even offered the job after an exchange of emails and a trans atlantic telephone job interview.

"UK crime scene training is very sought after in other countries, '' she said. "We covered everything at Teesside, where as other countries are more specific in their approach.

"When I first spoke to the Florida Sheriff's Department, they were amazed that I had done crime scene photography, evidence collection and laboratory analysis and lots more. It's a great foundation to build upon and we got to use the crime scene laboratory which gave us a real working experience of collecting evidence in a realistic environment.''

The university's crime scene laboratory is a 16 room building where crime scenes are created in a variety of domestic and professional settings. The students gain experience of how to collect evidence and all rooms are covered by CCTV so the lecturers and students can review their performance.