Statistics from the county council said reoffending had fallen by 22.9% against a government target of 5%.

Also the number of 10-17 year-olds coming before the police or courts for the first time had fallen in the past 12 months by 32.5%.

In total youth crime fell from 3,024 incidents in 2004 to 2,981 in 2006.

Positive contribution

Officials said the drop was down to initiatives in which offenders worked in the community they had targeted.

Peter Robinson, executive councillor for community safety said, "The report shows that in the past year there have been significant reductions in Lincolnshire in the volume of offences committed by young people, the number of young people committing them and the rate of re-offending.

"Our Youth Offending Service is performing extremely well and plays a key part in our Council's community safety campaign, both by cutting crime and by helping the rehabilitation of young offenders so that they can begin to contribute positively to society."