YOUNG internet users in Wyre Forest are to work on ways of making chatrooms safe from the dangers of predatory paedophiles in a pioneering campaign backed by the Shuttle/Times & News.

In a ground-breaking move, children from middle and high schools will be coming up with their own ideas to get the message across.

The brand new initiative - believed to be the first of its kind in the UK - is being launched after a young girl student approached police.

Paul Hawkins, of Kidderminster-based arts company Pablo Productions, is managing the project for a number of agencies across the region, including the police and social services.

"This is new territory. Young people are better informed than their parents about chatrooms," he said. "The parents could be in the same room and not know exactly what was happening with their child on the computer. It's a young person's domain and we want them to come up themselves with ways of raising awareness."

Research by a group of Year 10 sociology students at Stourport High School showed chatroom use to be widespread among both boys and girls, mostly in the evenings and sometimes for over four hours.

It also showed many parents had little or no knowledge of how chatrooms work or how to monitor their children's activities.

Mr Hawkins said West Mercia police officer Jon Harris and teachers at the high school, who meet regularly, put the issue forward as the subject for this year's Wyre Forest Youth Crime Forum. Each school will have three or four student representatives and the project will be launched on Tuesday at the Gainsborough House Hotel in Kidderminster.

"It will run until next spring when there will be a celebration event. It will be up to the young people how they want to present their results. It's important that this is their own project," said Mr Hawkins, whose Keep 'Em Out anti-distraction burglar campaign in Wyre Forest - also backed by the Shuttle/Times & News - is now seen as a model nationwide.

Working with professional agencies, the students could draw up posters or work on a multi-media presentation, he said.