A club to help youngsters in east Cleveland improve their babysitting skills has been hailed as a great success.

The five-week course focusing on all aspects of looking after a small baby was the brainchild of Sure Start health visitor Susan Harrison and schools nurses at Rosecroft School, in Loftus.

The youngsters are all 14 and learn about the reality of looking after a child, which Mrs Harrison said can be a daunting prospect to most teenagers.

And as a finale to the course, the youngsters get to take home a living doll for a weekend to put their new found skills into practice.

The course looks at the role and responsibilities of a babysitter, life-saving techniques, spotting signs of illness in babies, accident prevention and educational play.

The dolls, which are normally used as a deterrent for teenage girls against starting their families too early, have a special gadget in which allows teachers and health visitors to assess whether they have been exposed to risk factors, such as choking, violent shaking or cot death.

Mrs Harrison said the course is proving a success with both parents and youngsters because the parents feel more confident about leaving their babies with the teenagers and the youngsters are learning skills which they enjoy and will help them in their own lives.

The next course will run from the school in September.