A NEW initiative to prevent children and young people committing crime has been established in Lancashire.

The multi-agency Group Intervention Panel -- or GRIP for short -- involves police, the fire service, Railtrack, Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Borough Council, Barnardos and the county's youth justice teams.

Under the scheme, agencies including youth offending teams, the police, education services and various voluntary organisations, pool resources and share information to enable the panel to focus on helping young people.

The aim is to net nuisance youngsters who are at risk of becoming involved in criminal activity.

Police say a letter to the parent is often all that is needed in the early stages but youngsters who continue to offend are referred to GRIP who organise a support programme to prevent them becoming involved in a criminal lifestyle.

GRIP has been piloted in Blackpool and Fleetwood and its success has led to the scheme being rolled out across other areas of the county. People involved will be given the chance to see how it works at a special one-day conference at Preston North End's Deepdale ground on Wednesday, September 26.

Speakers will include police, education and health services, Barnardos and the Youth Justice Board. 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.