SCHOOL friends have gone in to business together to create a secure chatroom for youngsters - and they are close to running a live pilot.

Dorian Port and Stuart Earle, who are both 33 and met when they were pupils at the then Brighton Hill School in Basingstoke, set up the internet business My Turf from their homes in the new year.

Now the men have moved to serviced offices in Basing View and are gearing up for a major autumn launch of My-Turf.com

The name My Turf comes from their drive to create a virtual patch of playing field for 11-year-olds through to teenagers to go into chatrooms with built-in security, so the users and their parents can be happy that no older person is going online and grooming children.

Mr Port said: "We plan to go live in October or November. Meanwhile, we want to trial it in Basingstoke very soon and need about 200 children in Basingstoke to take part."

He added: "There's not a lot of safety on the internet these days. It's worrying that not many people seem to be bothering about the safety of children."

My Turf has secured its own Intellectual Property Rights and will be looking to charge a membership fee of £12 a year.

Those who sign up must have verification of their name, age, address, school and parents. This will be checked against electoral and telephone databases.

Children will be given a user name posted to them and a password sent by e-mail. The posted user name will be sent to their school, a GP or police, so it cannot be intercepted.

Once they have access to the chatroom, which will not become live until at least three people are chatting, there will be the added security of having to enter a favourite number, colour and shape.

More security comes from a report button which can terminate access if someone suspects the system is being abused.

All the conversations will be recorded with an encrypter on a separate database and could then be made available to the police if there was a problem.

Once in the chatroom, children will have a range of options that will be designed to help with education and online study and My Turf is also aimed at forming links with children's and drugs charities.

"We've created a safe bubble," said Mr Earle, who is still trying to raise £40,000 to £50,000 of funding for the autumn launch.

So far My Turf has not managed to land any Government start-up funding but Mr Earle is determined to launch the business in Basingstoke.

He said: "I've lived in Basingstoke most of my life and I want to put something back. I spent seven years in Manchester and couldn't wait to get back to Basingstoke."

He was previously involved in the Sellers Pack project in Basingstoke, which was being designed for the housing market, and Mr Port, who has an IT background, spent four years in Thailand, the Maldives and the West Indies teaching scuba diving.

My Turf has won the support of borough and county councillor Phil Heath, who is also a member of the Hampshire Police Authority.

Cllr Heath said: "I think it's excellent and something that is needed," adding he hopes the police will be interested in My Turf.

He added: "I think it's terrific and gives opportunities for other organisations who want to have contact with young people to do so in a secure environment."

Contact the company by e-mail on stuart@ my-turf.com or telephone 01256 799922.