A SCHEME set up at Blakenhurst prison to tackle the chronic re-offending of drug addicts will be the focus of a television programme tomorrow.

Operation BORRIS, Blakenhurst Offenders Resettlement and Rehabilitation in Solihull, has been running at the Tardebigge prison for two years and its aim is to get offenders out of a cycle of crime, drug addiction and prison.

The programme, 30 Minutes: Getting Clean Away, looks at the scheme's success - since it began, the rate of offending has dramatically dropped from an average of six to one offence per offender, per year.

The Carlton production will be shown on ITV1 from 11-11.30pm and will feature four men who between them have served almost 25 years in prison.

The scheme monitors them from the time of their arrest, through prison, to their eventual release, and helps them with potential problems and contact with their families.

Chief Inspector Steve Glover, who set up BORRIS with Blakenhurst's deputy governor Wendy Sinclair, said: "This scheme is unique.

"There isn't another place in the country where a senior police officer can sit down with 18 or so of the prolific offenders for that area and discuss drugs, crime and rehabilitation in the community."