WHEN 19-year-old Rachel Wilson was last seen alive at 2.30am on May 31, 2002, security camera images showed her walking along Southfield Road, in Middlesbrough town centre.

Sadly, this was not an unusual occurrence because a decade ago prostitutes could be found on many street corners in the town with kerb-crawling a massive problem for the police to contend with.

Ten years later, the sex industry is less visible on the streets, but according to the man who heads the five-strong team of dedicated Cleveland Police officers in the vice squad, the proliferation of mobile technology and the internet has changed the way the industry works.

As a result, Sergeant Paul Higgins, who has worked in vice for nearly ten years, says the force has changed its focus when trying to address the problem of women on the streets looking for punters.

He said: “The days of finding a lot of women working on the streets throughout the town centre have long gone. They are still there but there is nowhere near as many and they do work in a different way.

“The clampdown on kerb-crawlers certainly had an effect on the way that street prostitution worked, and the use of mobile phones means that there is not the need for them to spend so much time on the streets.

“However, there is a growing problem with people travelling into the town and booking hotel rooms to meet several clients before leaving the area. The internet has also changed the way that some prostitutes work, with clients being able to go on websites to make their arrangements.”

A high-profile name and shame campaign aimed at ridding Middlesbrough of its tag as the prostitution capital of the North was launched in about 2001 following continued complaints from residents who felt besieged by prostitutes and their kerb-crawling clients.

The success of that project led to a reduced number of women working on the streets and, in the past 12 months, the force has started using a different tactic to deal with men who have been arrested for kerb-crawling – they are offered the chance to take an intensive course to address their behaviour.

Run in conjunction with a Barnardo’s project, the men must have no criminal convictions and be prepared to pay £200 for the course to avoid being prosecuted at court.

SARAH BOOTH, who has run several of the courses, believes the hard-hitting initiative has had a positive effect on the 60- plus men who have taken the day-long course.

She said: “It is a full-day course which makes them look at their behaviour and why they are prepared to pick up women on the streets.

“We make them look at their perception of women and it is a really hard-hitting course designed to get them to address their behaviour.”

The course has a high success rate, with very few people being arrested again for kerb-crawling out of the 50 to 60 men who have completed the course.

She said: “When many of them have come in, they have no real understanding of what they have been doing – they think the women are there to service their needs. As part of the course, we make them speak openly about why they use prostitutes and try to address their way of thinking.

“The people who take on the course are from a wide variety of ages and backgrounds, so we have to identify what their perception of women and prostitution actually is. Some are from countries where prostitution is legal, so they have little understanding or concept of the law surrounding it.

“By the end of the day, we have hopefully got across the message that prostitution is damaging to the woman, and many of the men have been reduced to tears and shown remorse.”

The Barnardo’s team also runs a weekly open session for working girls to use their facilities.

The women are able to take advantage of free access to showers and washing machines while also being able to pick up any medical prescriptions and have a health check.

One woman who has regularly attended the centre for several years told how the staff provided a vital service. The 31-year-old has been working on and off the streets since she was 14.

She said: “We can come in here and talk to them about anything that is on our minds.

“We can speak to them in confidence and know that we will be able to get help off them.

“I have been coming here for years and they have always been good to me. If I have any concerns about the age of any of the girls working on the streets, I always tell them and they try to give them as much help and support as they can.”

The problem of prostitution on the streets of Middlesbrough has reduced over the ten years since Rachel Wilson was killed, and the work of Cleveland Police and the Barnardo’s team has hopefully made it a safer place for young girls and women.

Rachel Wilson’s killer has never been caught.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.