LABOUR has presided over a shocking 60 per cent surge in the number of under-17s repeatedly committing crime.

Ministry of Justice figures yesterday revealed that the total of Persistent Young Offenders in England and Wales rose from 9,868 in 1997 to 15,819 last year.

And the number of crimes they commit has soared by 80 per cent in the same period to 80 offences every day.

Ministers have brought in 46 different measures aimed at tackling the youth crime crisis.

The Commons figures, for 10-17-year-olds sentences for a hat-trick of crimes, come as police meet in Bournemouth for their Federation Conference.

Shadow police minister David Ruffley said the system is failing to keep offenders off the streets.

He said: "Police officers are concerned that a huge amount of their time is spent dealing with the same repeat young offenders that the criminal justice system fails to keep off the streets or rehabilitate.

"Ministers have presided over a decade of yobbery, fuelled by massive increases in the number of repeat young offenders." Police Federation chairman Paul McKeever accused Labour of an "abysmal" failure on crime.