The report calls for 'restorative justice' rather than prison

The �3m Rethinking Crime and Punishment (RCP) research project wants reforms including schemes where locals decide what community work offenders do.

"It is time for a radical rethink of crime and punishment," spokesman Joe Levenson said.

The RCP report concludes: "Pay back should be central to punishment."

Policies are needed which work to prevent crime and get criminals to face up to the consequences of their actions Joe Levenson, RCP spokesman

The document will be launched at the Tower of London.

According to the report, compiled after four years of research, courts should offer projects which force offenders to face up to the impact of their crimes and apologise to victims.

Mr Levenson told BBC News: "Policies are needed which work to prevent crime and get criminals to face up to the consequences of their actions, rather than ones which politicians believe make them seem tough on law and order."

Baroness Linklater, RCP chairman, said: "This formidable body of work provides a springboard for action by government, the courts, those who work in the criminal justice system and also the public."

Public opinion

According to the 75-page document funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, which the RCP is part of, prison was unpopular with the public.

In a Mori survey of 1,977 people across Britain in November, only 11% said more offenders in prison would help reduce crime.

But that figure had risen from 8% since the first time the question was asked in a survey in 2001.

In the November poll, which asked people to select their top three choices from a list of eight crime-reducing options, the top response was better parenting at 57%.

Some 49% believed more police on the beat should be reduce crime, while 46% called for better school discipline.

The survey also showed that if they had to decide how to spend �10 million to deal with crime, 29% of people would hire 330 extra police, but only 2% would use it to lock up 270 extra adult offenders in prison.

Mental illness

Shadow home affairs minister Andrew Mitchell said: "If we want to start dealing with Britain's crime problem we need more respect and more police on the streets to protect the public.

"The next Conservative government will create 40,000 more police officers and act to restore discipline in our schools."

The RCP report also said more residential treatment places were needed to deal with mentally-ill offenders and drug addicts.

It called for a review on whether more seriously mentally ill offenders should be put in hospitals rather than jails, backing a recent call by Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers for the creation of a new generation of secure psychiatric units.

Prison alternatives

Rob Allen, RCP director, said: "Public attitudes need not stand in the way of a more progressive agenda on dealing with crime.

"There is widespread support for prevention, treatment and payback but political leadership is needed to promote alternatives to prison."

The report has received the backing of former Arsenal and England player Tony Adams, who served a jail sentence in 1990 for drink-driving.

Adams, who has made high-profile admissions about his battle with addiction, was expected to speak at the launch of the report.

The report was partly based on the findings of a inquiry funded by RCP, published three weeks ago, which said a government scheme allowing inmates out of jail early on an electronic tag may be helping to undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.