DELINQUENT youngsters committed more than one crime every two minutes last year, an official report revealed yesterday.

Juveniles aged 10 to 17 were behind 277,986 offences, according to the Youth Justice Board's annual report.

In a damning indictment of Labour's crime policies, the survey showed robberies surged 29 per cent between 2005 and 2008 to 6,669.

Violent crimes soared by a fifth, from 44,988 to 53,930, while drug crime and criminal damage each rose by 12 per cent.

Girls account for more crime than ever. In 2004/05, they were involved in 18.4 per cent.

By 2007/08 it was 20.9 per cent. And teenage girls were responsible for 15,400 violent attack and 885 muggings.

Conservative police spokesman David Ruffley said: "This is the result of Labour allowing a decade of juvenile delinquency."

Meanwhile, in a Mori poll, one in six teens said they'd been involved in a "happy slapping" attack, while almost a third of the 4,750 surveyed said they carried a knife or gun for a sports activity or "protection".