PUPILS at a Hartlepool school have been given a harsh lesson in prison life to teach then that crime does not pay.

Year Ten youngsters at St Hild's C and E School were treated as prisoners as soon as they arrived for registration and rather than normal lessons, they were ordered to assemble in the school hall where they received a number and were divided into seven groups.

Volunteers from the crime prevention scheme Prison! Me! No Way! then put pupils through their paces in a series of role-playing workshops designed to teach them to take responsibility for their own actions.

Youngsters were reminded about the dangers of making hoax calls to the emergency services, the dangers of bullying and using Internet chat rooms, and the damaging effects of anti-social behaviour.

The project, which will visit other schools on Teesside has been set up with the help of £20,000 from the North-East Assembly.