CRIMEBUSTERS in Hampshire have welcomed plans for a new crackdown on the county's worst young offenders using tagging technology.

Persistent troublemakers as young as ten are to be electronically tagged as part of the scheme being trialled in Fareham, Gosport.

If successful, the £300,000-a-year surveillance and supervision programme will be extended to the rest of Hampshire.

Youth justice workers in Southampton have vowed to keep a close eye on the Big Brother style package of measures.

Sgt Eric Hills has spent the last three years dealing with young offenders as part of the Wessex Youth Offending Team.

He is confident that increased police monitoring, state-of-the-art tracking measures and intensive counselling will all bear fruit.

He told the Daily Echo: "I believe they have a role to play in the full range of sentences that magistrates can pass.

"Clearly it's another punishment that protects the community by acting as a deterrent. They know if they break their curfew they will be sent back to court for punishment."

Chairman of Hampshire's combined youth justice committee councillor Richard Harris agreed action needed to be taken to stamp out repeat offending.

But he remains undecided about the benefits of tagging the youngsters.

Cllr Harris said: "The issue of youth crime needs dealing with. We want to prevent it rather than react later on. Where we do have a situation of persistent offenders we want to try as many of the methods of dealing with it as possible.

"I would like to see how this pilot works out and take on its best practices."

He added: "I have very mixed feelings about tagging. It's something I have to do more research into. I would need to explore the human rights issues."

The pilot is set to be launched next month and has funding in place to run until 2004.