FOR the past five years, Middlesbrough has combined a zero tolerance approach to kerb-crawling with offering support and a means of escape to street prostitutes. And less than an hour after going on patrol in an unmarked vice squad car, Home Office minister Fiona McTaggart has the opportunity to speak to a young woman who had been picked up by group of four men who had travelled to Teesside purely to find a prostitute.

"It is so sad when you speak to the young girls," says Ms McTaggart. "She has her whole life in front of her but she seems to think this is her only option to make money.

"You just have to look at the kind of places these girls are working to recognise that this is not a glamorous profession. These girls need the help and support of many different agencies, which is why the methods used in Middlesbrough are proving to be so successful.

"We need to be able to offer these girls a way out, whether that is curing their drug addiction or directing them towards education or training. That is the way forward."

The back streets of some of the town's industrial estates now provide the backdrop for the sex trade. At its peak there were nearly 250 girls working on the streets of Middlesbrough, but that has been reduced to 60.

And now the Government has announced it will be using the town's example for its nationwide scheme. Chief Insp Gary Gamesby, who pioneered the approach on Teesside, says: "Targeting the kerb-crawlers has made all the difference. The policy of targeting females just meant that they would get a fine and would be back out working to pay the fine.

"By targeting the kerb-crawlers we are effectively reducing the demand. Our work has now been given the seal of approval nationally. It makes me feel heartened for the community because what we have been doing has been right."

Hundreds of kerb-crawlers have been named and shamed, and some have even lost their driving licences.

One of the organisations involved in diverting the prostitutes away from the streets is Barnardo's Secos project, which has seen the number of women on their register halved since 1998.

Secos team leader Lynne Cardwell says: "Prostitution is not a choice women make. The women involved in prostitution have suffered previous abuse and traumas in their lives and are exploited and coerced.

"Our aim is to give them the support and help they need to exit prostitution and show them alternative ways of living their lives.