THE number of people convicted of carrying a knife in Hampshire has soared by 65 per cent over the past decade.

Government figures show 161 people were found guilty of possessing a blade in 2006 - up from 97 in 1997.

A breakdown of the Ministry of Justice figures shows 37 of the offenders in 2006 were under- 18s - almost double the 19 of a decade ago.

However the true extent of illegal knife carrying was obscured as no details were given about the number of people let off with a caution.

The figures emerged as Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today unveiled a Tackling Violence Action Plan developed with police.

A £1m campaign will be launched this summer to warn youngsters that - far from making them safer, as many believe - carrying a knife heightens their chances of becoming a victim of violence.

There will be new police resources for hundreds of metaldetecting knife arches and search wands, right, such as those which have already been given to all Southampton's schools, as revealed in the Daily Echo earlier this month.

The Home Secretary said she also wanted to see courts imposing tougher sentences on those caught carrying knives, including by making use of the new four-year maximum jail term available to them.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already ordered police officers in the worst knife-crime areas to prosecute anyone found carrying a blade - but Hampshire was not considered bad enough to be included.

Since 1997, the figures showed, a total of 1,287 people have been convicted of carrying a knife in Hampshire - of which 312 were children between 10 and 17.

But the overall number of convictions has recently shown a slight downward trend - falling from 177 in 2004 to 162 in 2005 and 161 in 2006.

Chris Huhne, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman and Eastleigh MP, said: "It is appalling that children should have access to, and the desire to use, offensive weapons of any sort. We need to see more intensive and visible policing in vulnerable areas.

"It's time the Government took gang gun crime and knife crime far more seriously with more incentives to stop and search in hot spots and a tough clampdown on gun smuggling."

The Home Office said the increase of those convicted of carrying knives illegally showed police and courts were taking appropriate action to support Government efforts to tackle knife crime.

A spokeswoman said: "The risk of being a victim of crime remains historically low but we recognise that young people particularly are fearful of becoming victims and some are carrying weapons."