The number of offences committed by teenagers and children in Oxfordshire has fallen dramatically.

However, violent crime by young people has increased.

Last year, children aged between 10 and 17 were responsible for 2,208 crimes in the county. This was 6.8 per cent down on 2002 and represents a 13.8 per cent drop since 2000.

The number of young offenders also fell - from 1,040 in 2002 to 913 last year. But violent crime rose from 303 offences in 2002 to 344 in 2003.

Well over half of all juvenile crime was committed by 16 and 17-year-olds. However, more than 14 per cent of last year's young offenders were aged between 10 and 13.

Boys were responsible for more than 82 per cent of all juvenile crimes last year.

Robbery - the focus of Prime Minister Tony Blair's personal initiative in areas of high street crime, which included Oxford - has declined, from 36 convictions of young people to 24. John Parry, the county's director for community safety, said: "Oxfordshire remains an area where a relatively low proportion of young offenders are sentenced to custody and where, consequently, more serious or persistent offenders are subject to community penalties.

"During 2003, 42 young offenders were subject to Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programmes. ISSP provides 25 hours per week of structured supervision, alongside 24-hour surveillance, using techniques such as electronic tagging, for convicted young people who fulfil the persistent or serious offending criterion."

Mr Parry is also chairman of the Youth Offending Team steering committee and his report was due to be presented to county councillors at their annual meeting on Tuesday.

He will tell councillors that the key objectives, including confronting young offenders with the consequences of their crimes, had been achieved.