A SMALL band of criminals responsible for thousands of crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour are being targeted by an offensive which gets under way next week.

Durham Police have identified a hit-list of 40 "hardcore" offenders - the majority of whom are young adults - who are believed to be responsible for nearly ten per cent of all incidents reported to the police in County Durham and Darlington.

The Prolific and Priority Offender Scheme will be outlined to a gathering of more than 100 criminal justice and crime reduction experts at a conference in Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, on Monday.

The event has been organised by County Durham and Darlington's Local Criminal Justice Board.

Chief constable Paul Garvin, who chairs the board, said research had revealed that it was a small number of individuals who posed the greatest threat to the quality of life of the law-abiding majority.

He said: "This new crackdown allows all criminal justice partner organisations to concentrate their combined efforts into tackling those responsible for causing most community harm.

"It also directly supports the force's own long-running StreetSafe campaign, launched earlier this year, which targets anti-social behaviour and disorder."

Pam McPhee, County Durham's chief probation officer and deputy chairwoman of the board, said that the success of the programme depended on the support of people living in the communities affected by crime.

Alan Brown, crime reduction director for the North-East, said: "This scheme will focus on this high offending group with a determination to catch them and bring them to justice.

"But offenders will also get every help to steer them away from crime."