IT has been said before by many people, but it is worth saying again.

Prostitution will never be eradicated, but it can be regulated.

And that will only happen when the authorities sit up and take notice of the fact that the law as it stands today is failing to deal with the problem.

Initiatives like Street Watch, involving residents in Swindon assembling their own evidence to pursue action through the courts, has done much to tackle the problem in the town, and those behind it should be commended.

But it is obvious that as prostitutes are driven from one area through the use of such court action, they are simply going to operate in another.

If prostitution was controlled properly within the law, not only would the lives of residents who are living with working girls on their doorsteps be improved, but the prostitutes themselves would benefit from greater protection.

As things stand, many of these girls are just as much the victims themselves, as they are exploited by the pimps that control their lives.

Yet as things stand, it looks like there are limited options available to the communities being affected.