DORSET Police have cut the number of child arrests by 80 per cent in the past seven years.

Research by charity the Howard League for Penal Reform shows the force arrested 459 children aged 17 and under last year.

Although the figure is slightly higher than the number recorded in 2016, it is significantly lower than the 2,310 child arrests made in 2010.

The charity is investigating the criminalisation of children in residential care, as well as those exploited by ‘county lines’ drug gangs.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League, said: “This is the seventh year in a row that we have seen a significant reduction in the number of child arrests across England and Wales, and Dorset Police’s positive approach has contributed to that transformation.

“It is a phenomenal achievement.”

Lower arrest rates mean many children “will have a brighter future without their life chances being blighted by unnecessary police contact and criminal records,” Ms Cook said.

“We have come a long way, but there is still more work to do,” she said.

“The Howard League has launched a programme to end the criminalisation of children in residential care, and our research also highlights the need for better understanding of child criminal exploitation.”

Child arrest figures for Dorset Police were at a high point in 2010.

The following year, they dropped to 1,053.

By 2016, the figure was 447 - 12 fewer arrests than in 2017.