A NEW Lancashire partnership is getting to grips with preventing children and young people committing crimes.

And it is been piloted successfully in Blackpool and Fleetwood before being rolled out across other areas of the county.

Lancashire police, the fire service, Railtrack, Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Borough Council, Barnardos and the county's youth justice teams have developed the Group Intervention Panel (GRIP) to identify those who persistently behave unacceptably and who are at risk of becoming involved in criminal activity.

During the early stages most cases are successfully dealt with by a letter to the parent but repeat offenders will be referred to GRIP.

The panel will then put into place a support programme in an effort to prevent the youngster becoming involved in a criminal lifestyle. They will deal with a variety of issues, including social inclusion, early intervention, community and race relations, the role of education in crime and working with families.

Jennifer Martinez, from the Lancashire Youth Offending Team, said: "Those of us working on the pilot have been pleased with the way it has gone and our multi-agency approach has allowed us all to get a much clearer picture of some of the problems facing these youngsters and at the same time to develop some of the solutions needed to help them."