A PILOT scheme planned to tackle persistent offenders in Burnley could pave the way for a national strategy.

Burnley Safer Cities has bid for £100,000 government cash over three years to back the Dordrecht Initiative - first tried in Holland - which targets repeat offenders.

Safer Cities co-ordinator Graham Smyth saw the scheme in action on a visit to the Netherlands last year and has mapped out a similar project to back up the work already undertaken by the crime prevention partnership offering support to the victims of crime in South West Burnley and Burnley Wood.

Burnley police reported last year that half of the detected crime in the district was committed by 100 offenders and 32 of these offenders were responsible for 1,458 detected offences. In Dordrecht, 18 of 20 offenders who joined the project in the first year had completely or virtually stopped offending.

The project involves close collaboration between the police and the probation service to identify and work with a target group of repeat offenders.

Head of Burnley police Supt Michael Griffin said: "At the moment we feel there is something of a crime merry go round. We arrest offenders and put them before the courts, only for them to go straight back to committing more offences.

"We have to stop the criminal careers of these repeat offenders and that can only be done in partnership with other agencies like the probation service

"If an offender is committing crime to feed a drug habit then he will continue until he stops using drugs.

"We must take steps to help him overcome his drug problem. If there are other reasons we must do something about them.

"The Burnley Dordrecht initiative is going to be something completely new to this country, but we are confident it can work.

"This is not going to be a soft option but a positive step to reduce the offending of these persistent criminals."

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