We have obtained high-resolution high signal-to-noise spectra of the S i near-infrared doublet at 8694 Å in eight metal-poor stars with metallicities in the range -0.6 \leq [ Fe/H ] \leq - 3.0 .
Elemental sulphur abundances were derived for six targets and upper limits were set for two of the most metal-poor stars in the sample .
The sulphur doublet at 8694.62 Å has been detected in three stars ( HD 19445 , HD 2665 and HD 2796 ) with [ Fe/H ] \leq - 1.9 .
Our observations combined with those available in the literature indicate a monotonic increase of the [ S/Fe ] ratio as [ Fe/H ] decreases , reaching values [ S/Fe ] \sim 0.7-0.8 below [ Fe/H ] = - 2 .
We discuss plausible scenarios for interpretation of these results .