A POLICE pilot scheme has been launched in Burnley and Pendle to reduce the number of children with a hyperactivity disorder who turn to crime.

The project, which aims to reduce the risk of people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder becoming criminals, is thought to be the first of its kind in the world.

At present about 25 per cent of Britain's prison population is affected by ADHD, compared with five per cent of the general population. A British Medical Association report has blamed 23 per cent of crime on poor or non-existent diagnosis.

Officers from Lancashire's Community Safety Unit have spent 14 months devising the scheme and have visited experts in America and Australia as part of their research.

They discovered that young people with ADHD had a range of risk factors for becoming involved in crime - they were more likely to be excluded from school, had a four times higher risk of being in a car accident and could be seen as behaving aggressively.

The new project involves joint work between police and other agencies, including education and health bosses, Connexions, Sure Start, psychologists and youth offending teams.

A training session for professionals in recognising and dealing with ADHD has already been held and more are planned.

Parents are to be invited to a support group and a conference will be held to bring together experts on the subject.

Funding is currently being sought to have the project evaluated, which would enable it to be implemented elsewhere.

Project leader Inspector Phil Anderson, from Lancashire Police's Community Safety Scheme, said: "We want to stop people entering into crime and we are particularly keen to ensure young people achieve their potential.

"Young people with ADHD have many risk factors - they are more likely to be excluded from school and can behave in an oppositional way which is likely to lead to some sort of intervention.

"We realised that if other agencies were able to do more, we would probably achieve our overall goal.

"There are a lot of myths and negative stories which, through education and professionals we are trying to dispel."