Man, 95, held for kerb-crawling

A 95-year-old man has been arrested during a crackdown on kerb-crawlers at a popular seaside resort.

The pensioner was detained by officers after he was seen to pick up a prostitute in Bournemouth, Dorset, but he was let off with a reprimand because of his age.

Inspector Mark Kelly said: "He had been driving around, picked up a girl, took her somewhere nearby and officers intervened as they were getting down to sexual activity.

"They arrested him and brought him in but the custody sergeant felt a reprimand would be most suitable rather than put him through the courts system.

"We felt with his age it was not in the public's interest to proceed any further."

During the six-month crackdown, police arrested 40 men in the town seen looking for sex and of these, 35 will be attending a rehabilitation course.

A letter may also be sent to the licence holder of the vehicle which could mean their spouse or employer.

Since April, 26 prostitutes have been arrested in the town and 35 'working women' have been cautioned - up almost nine-fold on the cautions handed out the previous year.

The number of arrests of men looking for prostitutes has also risen by 500% compared to the previous year.