A tagging scheme which will release hundreds of young criminals from detention centres has been criticised by North-East victims.

The Government move, launched yesterday, aims to ease the overcrowding crisis in child units. It will mean young offenders sentenced to detention and training orders (DTOs) are eligible for release one or two months early.

The Home Office said 1,500 young offenders would be eligible for early release, but stressed that the scheme would not apply to those convicted of violent or sexual crimes. Offenders will get automatic early release providing they have not been disruptive during custody.

It means that a young person serving an eight-month DTO, who would previously have been eligible for release at the halfway point of four months, may serve just three months.

David Hinds, of the North of England Victims Association, said it was a knee-jerk reaction to the high prison population, which stands at a record 71,000.

He said: "The youths are running wild and take no notice of tagging anyway."

Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: "These people will have been given most of the alternatives to prison already, so why give them a further option? Many of their crimes are so serious or persistent that society needs protection from them."

Tagging will be available to young offenders on DTOs who have completed their custodial sentences and who are due to begin community supervision, education or unpaid work.