REGULARS at a school homework club have given an A-plus to an innovative scheme which has enabled them to buy £500 of new computer equipment - thanks to funding from kerb-crawlers.

Hard-working pupils at Mount Pleasant Junior School, Southampton, are the latest to benefit from the "Change Course" scheme run by Hampshire Constabulary and the Probation Service. In operation over the past six months, Change Course, which is also backed by Southampton City Safety Team and the Hampton Trust, is run at a workshop designed at challenging kerb-crawlers' attitudes towards using prostitutes.

So far, more than 50 men aged between 18 and 75 have paid £150 to attend the course, and successful completion means consideration is given to issuing the candidates with a police caution instead of proceeding with court action.

Other local recipients of proceeds from the course include Southampton Woman's Aid, which provides assistance to victims of domestic abuse and their families, and the James Wiltshire Trust.