MORE than 100 “persistent young offenders” appeared in court in East Lancashire in just three months, it has been revealed.

Between April and June 2008, 107 young people were found guilty of crimes having previously been sentenced for three other offences.

So-called PYOs are people aged 10 to 17 who having already been sentenced for offences on three or more occasions, are then arrested for a further crime within three years.

In the same period, there were 7,389 criminal court cases across England and Wales where PYOs were found guilty and sentenced, and 292 were in Lancashire.

Justice Minister Maria Eagle revealed the total in response to a parliamentary question from Pendle MP Gordon Prentice.

in 1997, the government pledged to halve the time between the arrest and the sentence of PYOs from 142 to 71 days - and in Lancashire latest figures show the county is well within the target, with an average time of 52 days.

It was also revealed there were 99 “prolific and other priority offenders” in the area, which police class as “a small hard-core of offenders who commit a disproportionate amount of crime, and cause disproportionate damage to their communities”.

Ms Eagle said this group was monitored by police as part of an attempt to reduce crime and reoffending. There were 305 in Lancashire and 11,296 being “managed” across England and Wales.

The scheme aims to identify the most prolific offenders, the most persistently anti-social, and people who pose the greatest threat to the safety to an area