POLICE are to serve anti-social behaviour orders on prostitutes, banning them from areas of a North-East town.

Cleveland Police are to launch the crackdown in red light areas of Middlesbrough, after a local firm left the town centre and relocated to North Yorkshire because of the prostitute problem.

In recent years, the emphasis has been on naming and shaming kerb crawlers by bringing them before the courts.

Exit strategies are also in place to help young prostitutes escape life on the street by offering alternative lifestyles.

But, in what is being seen as a new phase of the clean-up campaign, police are to get tough with vice girls who ignore persistent warnings.

Anti-social behaviour orders are being used as the latest device.

Bosses at the firm which left Middlesbrough, and who do not wish to be named, decided on the move after finding customers were being propositioned as they arrived at the company premises.

They claimed one vice girl opened the door of a car about to leave the firm's car park and swung herself, uninvited, into the front passenger seat.

Rob McMullan, the Tees Valley area manager of the North-East Chamber of Commerce, said: "I don't know whether this is an anomaly, or if other people are not saying anything, but either way it is still a grave concern.

"Obviously, we don't want firms leaving Middlesbrough. This is the first I have heard of, and this being given as the reason for leaving,'' he said.

"I know the Crime and Disorder Partnership in Middlesbrough is working hard to try to improve the situation in Middlesbrough. They are working very hard to decrease the problem .''

Inspector Gary Gamesby, head of Middlesbrough Operational Support Unit, said: "The business community can be assured that work is ongoing to combat this.

"Since 1999, over 1,000 prostitutes and some 700 kerb crawlers have been dealt with, which is a clear indication that we are policing the area.

"Moves to secure anti-social behaviour orders against persistent prostitutes are well advanced."

Insp Gamesby said he would welcome any support from the business community in helping to provide evidence for further prosecutions