Darlington schools are joining forces with police to add crimefighting lessons to the curriculum.

Soon subjects like vandalism, drugs, car crime and offensive weapons will be on the timetable of every school in the borough and around County Durham.

The initiative being launched tomorrow morning aims to develop positive relationships between police and young people and promote good citizenship.

Although officers already have close links with many schools, this will give them greater access to pupils by putting them alongside teachers in the classroom. Individual schools will be able to adapt the programme to suit their needs.

Pupils will be encouraged to respect the law, helped to understand the role of the police service, and given an insight to the consequences of crime on the offender, the victim and the community.

Darlington's director of education Geoff Pennington will join Durham Chief Constable George Hedges and Keith Mitchell, director of education for Durham, at the launch at Hardwick Hall, near Sedgefield. All are due to make keynote speeches.

The programme also includes workshops, exhibitions, and a performance by the Bishop Auckland Theatre Hooligans, a group of young people who regularly win awards for using drama to tackle difficult social issues.

Mr Hedges said: Durham Constabulary is committed to delivering a high quality service to its communities and recognises the important contribution young people can made to the safety of these communities.

"We are not trying to tell youngsters what to do. We want to give them as much information as possible so they can make their own choices and decisions and, hopefully, become responsible citizens who play a positive role in their communitities."

Mr Mitchell said: "We already have a tremendous working relationship with police in areas such as truancy and social inclusion. This latest initiative is a continuation of that good work.

"We are constantly sharing good practice and there is clear evidence that the initiatives we have already worked on together are having an impact in reducing truancy, exclusion and crime."