EXCITING things are planned for what is slowly becoming known as the Tees Valley.The five local authorities are being pushed to come together behind ambitious plans by Middlesbrough and Stockton councils to redevelop the banks of the Tees along similar lines to what has been achieved on Tyneside.

The airport, with its unpopular new name, is at the centre of ambitious development plans which will have a significant impact on the local economy.

And despite the political sensitivities which exist over the river development and the airport rebranding, there is a sense of momentum which is to be encouraged.

But while we applaud this vision for the future, no-one should underestimate the importance of investment in the social fabric of the area.

Our front page story today about the sickening level of prostitution on Teesside shows just how much work needs to be done.

Estimates that up to 60 girls between the ages of 14 and 21 are working as prostitutes - charging as little as £2 to feed an addiction to drugs - are frightening.

It is happening because Teesside, with its busy port and high levels of deprivation, is a fertile breeding ground for ugly parasites who feed on misery: the drug dealers and the pimps.

Of course it is right to spend millions marketing a new image for the Tees Valley and seeking ways to generate wealth not just around Middlesbrough and Stockton but right across the area.

But that has to be married with greater investment in cleaning up the streets to drive out those parasites, and in measures to protect their young victims from the immeasurable harm that is being caused.