A CAUTION which forces offenders to try to repair the damage done to their victim's lives has proved to be a pioneering success in Lancashire.

The 2,000th "conditional caution" has been given out in the county - nearly ten times more than any other force and more than half the total issued across England and Wales.

The offender is given a caution and spared the court prosecution process on condition they compensate their victim in a way agreed by all parties.

Or they agree to attend a session that addresses some of the factors that led to their offending in the first place, for example a drugs or alcohol problem.

The cautions are only used for minor offences such as criminal damage, theft, and certain drugs offences They are designed to speed up the justice process and 2,035 have now been issued.

Police bosses said this had proved successful in around 80 per cent of cases. If the offender refuses to make amends they end up in court.

Since the scheme was introduced in October 2004 the cautions have seen £155,000 in compensation handed to victims Meanwhile, Lancashire police have issued their first 'instant' conditional cautions, where authority was given by the Crown Prosecution Service over the telephone. This allowed a conditional caution to be given in the first period a person was in custody.

Six were issued in total: three in Burnley, and one each in Fleetwood, Lancaster and Preston.

Inspector John Clucas said: "Previously, at weekends and during the evening, police have had to use bail to get a decision and do the conditional caution later.

"The advantage in having access to a 24 hour telephone line is that the speed of the process is much quicker."

As with the existing conditional caution scheme, if the offender fails to abide by the conditions, for example they do not pay the compensation or do not attend the drugs or alcohol worker appointment, then they do go before a court.

Inspector Clucas added: "Lancashire continues to be at the cutting edge of criminal justice reform."

Conditional cautions do not replace the existing cautions system.