VICTIMS of domestic violence are to be provided with a safety net.

A partnership has won a Government grant to help combat a rapid increase in violence against women in Middlesbrough.

An office is to be opened in the town centre next month, staffed by representatives of ten front-line agencies who are all called in to help at some point.

The news comes days after it emerged that neighbouring Stockton has to temporarily house abused women at addresses outside the town, because the local refuge cannot cope with the number of women appealing for help

Debbie Roxby, Middlesbrough Council housing officer and chairwoman of the Middlesbrough Domestic Violence Forum, said: "There has been a rapid increase in the number of homeless applications made to the local authority as a result of domestic violence. Forty seven per cent of all our homeless calls are the result of domestic violence."

She said: "We have heard many reasons and excuses given by men."

Some of them cited financial concerns and unemployment, while pregnant women can find themselves on the receiving end from violent partners.

Ms Roxby said: "What we are trying to do is get the message across that domestic violence is not acceptable. There is no excuse."

The forum organised an activities day in Middlesbrough's Dundas Shopping Arcade yesterday, which included a stilt walker and face painting for children, mini makeovers and advice - if requested - for mothers.

Ms Roxby said: "Once we get people's attention, that is when we can talk to the women.

"We have a large range of information.

"The Middlesbrough Domestic Violence Council recently won a Home Office grant and we are now in the process of developing a women's centre, one-stop-shop: an holistic approach."

The new service will provide victims of violence with their own support worker.

The idea of a converting an old shop or office in Middlesbrough as an advice and drop- in centre was first mooted in 1999, when research identified it as a key need.

Research then found more than 13,000 women in the borough - equivalent to one in four of the female population - may experience some form of domestic violence.