A PIONEERING project set up in East Lancashire to deal with the problem of youth crime has dealt with hundreds of youngsters in its first year.

The system is designed to speed up the courts and has also reshaped the way young offenders are dealt with.

The same approach is being tried out in nine other areas across England and Wales before being introduced on a nationwide basis.

A series of measures have been introduced in the pilot areas to replace cautions, which had come under fire for being ineffective.

Many critics believed offenders were not being punished properly under the caution system or made to face up to the consequences of their actions.

A string of new measures have been introduced in the Blackburn area and the whole system is being over seen by the youth offending team, a panel comprising social workers, police and council officials.

More than 220 young offenders in Blackburn have been handed reprimands, the new form of caution and 184 juveniles have been given final warnings. Once a final warning is handed out if the youngster re-offends he or she is put on a special programme and automatically faces prosecution.

And just under 20 young criminals have been given reparation orders, a special penalty which includes measures designed to make offenders face up to the consequences of their action.

Blackburn was also one of the first places in the country to bring an Anti Social Behaviour Order, which saw a 15-year-old troublemaker banned from the town centre. Home Office Minister Charles Clarke, said: "The Government has embarked on a crusade against crime - and that means taking action to tackle youth crime. We promised to overhaul the youth justice system to ensure young offenders and their parents take greater responsibility for their behaviour."

He added: "These pilots show the continued progress of our reforms to deliver real change in support of victims and the community. They also show that courts and other agencies are taking advantage of the opportunities we have provided to intervene in offending behaviour.

"We are also well on the way to delivering our pledge to halve the time from arrest to sentence for persistent offenders."

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