ROGER Statham and Van Morrison were born within 24 hours of each other. But the link between the probation boss and the music legend doesn't end there.

For Van the Man's imaginative lyrics and haunting melodies have been a powerful, if unusual, source of inspiration throughout a harrowing and demanding career.

Whenever the sheer weight of the probation officer's task got too much, Mr Statham took comfort from Morrison's music.

"I listen to Van every day," said Mr Statham, who this week retires after 12 years as head of Teesside probation service.

"There are some hard challenges in this job. We deal with some of the most awful people in the most awful situations of violence and depravity, the enormous sadness and hurt created for family and communities. We have to soak all that up. We have to escape to higher things in life and Van helps me do that.

"He helps lift my spirits, put the world back in perspective and hang on to the better things. He calms the tortured soul."

Listening to even more Van Morrison is one thing Mr Statham plans to do with the extra time retirement will bring.

But he will sorely miss the job he is giving up as part of the biggest shake-up of the probation service in its history.

He joined the service in 1968 at the age of 23 in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent.

He progressed through the ranks via some pioneering ventures and arrived on Teesside in 1984 as assistant chief probation officer.

The area might have been new to him but there were some similarities with home in that both were losing traditional industries and unemployment was starting to bite.

"Previously, we had found that work helped to socialise young people, especially young men," said Mr Statham.

"Suddenly, a whole generation was growing up with no expectation of work. It was a tough climate in which to rehabilitate people; a culture hard on its young.

"Here on Teesside, more were going into custody much earlier in offending than the national average. Our job was going to become more difficult and that has proved to be the case."

He says that in spite of valiant efforts at regeneration, the area has seen divisions in society grow even more.

"Teesside has been ripe for the burgeoning use of drugs and that is our biggest worry," he said.

Recalling the stigma which used to be attached to probation in the past, he says misbehaviour is now endemic at all levels and his officers have less discretion on the way they handle cases due to the imposition of national standards.

But he stresses it is not a soft option and that there is little for manoeuvre among offenders.

"If they don't keep up with the probation order they are back before the courts," said Mr Statham.

The natural ageing process helps. "Crime tends to be a young man's sport and, unfortunately, increasingly a young woman's sport," he said.

"The type of offence, though, changes as people get older. Street crime is the province of young men, usually unemployed, through drink or drugs."

He harbours no doubt alcohol is a significant factor in much offending. "There is less respect in the world generally. Young people are rude to older people in a way which would not have been dreamed of even 20 years ago," he said.

He sees the drug culture as a real challenge to everyone and says there is a need for debate about the legalisation of some drugs and how that might be tolerated within society.

And he says it would be good if parents were more supportive of schools and took more responsibility for their children.

"It is not popular to say this but parents must do that," said Mr Statham. "Too many parents undermine those who try to put rules in place."

Since he took over as chief probation officer in 1989, the service has developed a range on initiatives to tackle crime. He reckons there is now a whole portfolio challenging to offenders to help them develop a sense of shame.

The service has also achieved high scores in various inspections to be ranked one of the highest in the country for quality of work.

But his greatest source of pride is his staff. "People come in, roll up their sleeves and do this job with some of the most difficult people in the country. The job demands enormous resilience, courage and optimism and I am in awe of the work my staff have done here," he said.

The Teesside service has 270 members of staff with offices in Hartlepool, Stockton, Redcar, South Bank and Middlesborough and two hostels working to help people rebuild their lives.

Teenagers desperately need help in getting jobs with decent rates of pay, he says, favouring an apprenticeship scheme which he feels could cut crime considerably on Teesside.

But Mr Statham is worried that government changes will have an impact on the service's flexibility to deal effectively with local issues.

Under new arrangements, chief probation officers are civil servants accountable to central government.

While at 55 Mr Statham could have stayed under the new set-up, he has joined half the chief probation officers in the country in leaving.

He fears demoralisation of staff through increased bureaucracy

"I want to see people motivated and innovative, to be able to nip problems in the bud," he said.

"Services won't be allowed to develop local programmes, only those nationally accredited and that worries me most."

The new arrangements could also mean that many offenders on Teesside will not be eligible for the nationally-set profiles for probation. "We tend to get tougher individuals here and more will go to prison as a result," said Mr Statham. "It is going to be something of a straitjacket."

His fears for the service are very real. "I hope the staff here will be listened to and that they will be able to run a range of programmes alongside the national ones to give local flavour to the service," he said. "I take that hope with me to retirement."

The severing of his contract with the service to become a civil servant was a change he could not agree with. "My loyalties were with Teesside and I am lucky I had a choice to bow out gracefully," he said. "It has been a great privilege to work with the service. I am lucky to have had a career I have enjoyed and one with enormous challenges."

Taking over as chief officer is Elaine Lumley, who has been Mr Statham's assistant. She joined the Teesside service 17 years ago.

"I have seen her develop and it is a great thrill handing the job over to someone like Elaine," he said.

Having made the move from Staffordshire, the Statham family is now settled in this area. Until 1994, they lived in Stokesley and children Jonathan and Rachel attended Stokesley school.

Mr Statham is full of praise for the education they received there.

"The children were very much involved in school life and I was chairman of the PTA," he said.

"We met so many good people there. The school was superb. We will always be grateful for the education our children received."

The family now lives in Thirsk, where Mr Statham's wife, Wendy, is a special needs teacher. "Having made the move to the North-East, we are all happy here," he said.

In his retirement, he plans to enjoy and explore the area more and to spend time in the garden.

He will also help with community schemes and continue his work with a prison after care society. Then there is painting, golf and his beloved cricket.

"It is curious leaving the service," he said. "I will miss work and will look back fondly. I am very apprehensive as this is such a big change.

"Thank goodness it's the cricket season!"