VETERAN TV and radio celebrity Sir Jimmy Saville endorsed the work of adolescent rehabilitation centre C-FAR on Friday when he said he would be quite happy living alongside the young offenders.

The former Radio One DJ and presenter of Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It paid a visit to C-FAR's base at Okehampton Camp and praised the work of the charity, which he described as 'tremendous', before presenting staff with a cheque for £1,000.

Sir Jimmy, 75, has a long-standing involvement with Broadmoor Prison Hospital, which cares for mentally ill prisoners. He was invited to C-FAR by its chief executive, Lt Col Trevor Philpott, a former Royal Marine. They first met 35 years ago at Lympstone, when Sir Jimmy became the first civilian to be awarded the Royal Marine's green beret.

C-FAR, which provides residential training courses for persistent young offenders, is hoping to buy Burden Grange Nursing Home at Highampton, transferring its base from Okehampton Camp.

The proposed move, which will be subject to planning permission, has met opposition from local residents who fear crime will increase and property values will fall.

Sir Jimmy said a 'nimby' (not in my backyard) syndrome existed, but people had a responsibility to help those in society who had fallen by the wayside.

'If we choose to live in the middle of 60 million people we are not going to get a paradise island,' he said.

'I have lived inside Broadmoor Prison Hospital and I would have no problems living at C-FAR.

'This charity is there for the guys who do not want to be a criminal for the rest of their life — there is no pressure by society to come here, they come if they want to change.'

He said every trainee at C-FAR was filled with that 'amazing thing called hope' because they could see themselves breaking the cycle of crime.

One of the great fears of local residents is that trainees who are not responding to the course will escape from the premises and commit crimes in the community.

Trainee Neil said: 'We are not animals — I think people are stereotyping us and not showing a lot of compassion.

'I came here on a deferred sentence from court but at the time I was not ready for it so I asked to go back to prison after a short time,' he said.

'Luckily, C-FAR have accepted me back and now I want to be here, just like everybody else does.'

He added that for the first time in a long time he was being treated as a grown-up and with respect, which in turn gave him more confidence to achieve.

Lt Col Philpott said he was delighted Sir Jimmy came to see what the charity was doing to help young people.

'Jimmy has done some tremendous charity work with underprivileged young people and has empathy for the work we do,' he said.

'Much to our surprise he gave us a cheque for £1,000 which is fantastic.'

C-FAR is currently funded by charitable trusts, private donations and money from the European Social Fund. It has still received no funding from the Home Office, despite winning praise from the Director General of the Prison Service, Martin Narey, his predecessor Sir David Ramsbottom, and numerous other high-profile figures in the prison and probation sector.

Lt Col Philpott said C-FAR, which had been running for 15 months, provided a service which would otherwise be provided by the Probation Service.

The cost to put a trainee through a residential course followed by nine months of mentor support was £16,000 — a year in custody cost £25,000 plus the ongoing costs of probation, police and benefits, he said.

The aim of C-FAR is to prepare young men for going back into society, keeping down jobs and paying taxes. It currently has a 61.5 per cent success rate.

l See Letters page 4