Wow thanks guys for all the input. Damn (oops not very monkish) I should have joined here years ago.

I am just learning the ins and outs of mod_perl so I followed the instructions of how to set it up

didn't even think of setting the individual script to a mod_perl script. just stuck to the paradigm of a directory

I'll try this solution

<Location /cgi-bin/mlserver.pl>
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::Registry
Options ExecCGI
allow from all
PerlSendHeader On
</Location>

its great because it also cuts out the rewrite requirement

Rewrite the script as an apache handler ... Great idea that would be much faster. I'll have to work out how to talk to mySQL from Apache but I am sure theres lots of info about that lying around.

Steve I already ruled out a "redirect" because the script is called thousands of times per hour and the client times out if there is no response within 5 seconds.

I can't afford the extra time and network activity a redirect introduces.

Great Answers guys I'm impressed :) And your probably saying "Doh".
I'll get there