CLEVELAND Police have defended their crackdown on prostitution despite accusations they are just scratching the "surface of the problem".

Angry Middlesbrough residents voiced their concerns about the police reaction to prostitution at a public meeting earlier in the week, and another public forum is planned for Thursday.

Despite high-profile campaigns to stamp out the problem in Middlesbrough's red light district, many residents complain they are still being plagued by vice girls and kerb-crawlers. Henry Robinson, the chairman of the St Aidan's residents' association, lives in one of the residential areas most affected by prostitution.

He said: "They will never solve the problem. They are just moving it somewhere else in the town.

"The police stand it down in one place, and then it moves, and in the end it's back where it was in the first place."

An initiative to name and shame those caught with prostitutes has seen more than 200 people fined in the past year, including a police officer and a church minister, but residents want more to be done.

Mr Robinson said: "I want more police on the beat. They need to be going about watching, getting intelligence from the public.

"I can walk anywhere in this area and I never see a police officer. The police should be there on the streets, not just going past in a car.

"I agree with the name and shame scheme and I hope it will bring a lot of offenders to book. The police are trying, but they are just scratching the surface of the problem."

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police defended the action being taken to combat the problem and said residents' fears were not being ignored.

She said: "Cleveland Police are being pro-active and we are constantly taking in the views of people and taking up their problems."

Police were there to listen to local residents.

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