The shocking extent of child prostitution on the streets of the North-east was revealed yesterday.

According to new research, more than 140 prostitutes and rent boys under the age of 18 are operating in Cleveland - a sickening statistic which confirms Teesside's reputation as the sex trade capital of the North.

And it was revealed that the average prostitute was aged just 14 when they first took to the streets of Teesside to ply their trade.A one-day conference on the sex trade, held at the Oakwood Centre in Eaglesciffe, Stockton, also heard how the majority of kerb crawlers caught paying for sex on Teesside are from outside the area.

The shocking figures were the result of research carried out by Barnardo's children's charity and Cleveland Police.

Wendy Shepherd, of Barnardo's Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Street (SECOS) project, told delegates that 142 children between 12 and 18-years-old are selling their bodies on Teesside. Of them, 130 are girls, 12 are boys.

She said: "The appalling fact is the starting average age of a prostitute on Teesside is just 14.

"They are being coerced into it from a very early age. I have known young people who have been given drugs and forced into addiction first - then they are told the best way to pay for the habit is through prostitution. "Prostitution is child abuse, as simple as that. Even grown woman, who may convince themselves they are doing it willingly, are being abused.

"I see women being battered and bruised, raped and murdered."

Delegates are now hoping a Government White Paper on sex offending will impose new tougher penalties on perverts who pay for sex with minors. The reforms, if passed by parliament, could impose a life imprisonment when the child is under 13, up to ten years when they are between 14 and 16 and five years for paid sex with a 17-year-old.

Police research, conducted by Cleveland Police's Insp Gary Gamesby and published yesterday, showed that, of 44 kerb crawlers questioned, 88 per cent where from outside Middlesbrough.

Those caught had jobs ranging from mechanics to surveyors and company directors, nearly two thirds were aged between 30 and 49 and just over half were married.

Insp Gamesby said: "The research makes it clear the bulk of kerb crawlers live outside the Middlesbrough area and that more work is needed to deter these men from travelling to the town."

Police say their recent 'name and shame' campaigns on Teesside account for comparatively few local men being caught.