Just three years short of the term's official centenary, the Home Office is set to jettison "probation service" from the lexicon of law and order and has launched an urgent appeal to find a suitable replacement.

The decision to end a long and honourable usage in Britain's courts which dates back to the 1907 Probation of Offenders Act comes as a result of the merger of the prison and probation services into the new National Offender Management Service (Noms) from next month.