ONE in four criminals went straight back to crime and committed almost 500,000 offences between them last year, figures have shown.

More than half of these were committed by offenders with 11 or more previous offences to their name, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed.

The figures were released as David Cameron and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling promised a rehabilitation revolution to bring down a one-year reoffending rate, which now stands at 26.7 per cent.

Criminals in the North-East are some of the worst repeat offenders across the country, with Hartlepool recording 36.3 per cent, which is more than twice that in Rutland where it stood at 17.3 per cent.

Other authorities in the region didn’t fare much better with Darlington having a 32.4 per cent rate, while North Yorkshire has a re-offending rate of 26 per cent.

A total of 497,969 offences were committed by 173,274 offenders, four-fifths of whom were adults, within a year of them being released from jail, convicted, cautioned or warned over drugs in 2010, the figures showed.

And 3,275 of these were serious violent or sexual offences committed by 2,901 criminals.

Overall, the reoffending rate in England and Wales rose slightly by 0.4 per cent over the past year, but was down from 27.9 per cent in 2000 to 26.7 per cent in 2010.

A MoJ spokeswoman said: “We are tackling the shamefully high reoffending rates in this country by introducing a rehabilitation revolution - offenders must be punished, but we must also deal with the root causes of offenders' behaviour so they don't return to crime.

“Prison is a punishment, but we are also making them places of meaningful, hard work where offenders are given the right mix of skills and support to help them find a job on release.

“We are also overhauling community sentences so they are a credible and effective punishment, including genuinely punitive elements in every sentence.”

More than 150 violent criminals and sex offenders are at large in the community despite breaching the terms of their release or committing another offence, separate MoJ figures showed.

A total of 988 criminals had been recalled to prison but not put back behind bars by the end of June, up 2.7 per cent from 962 in March.

These include 17 killers - 16 of them murderers - 11 rapists and at least four paedophiles.

Reoffending percentage figures for local authorities across the region:

  • Darlington - 32.4 per cent
  • Durham - 29.3 per cent
  • Gateshead – 30.2 per cent
  • Hartlepool – 36.3 per cent
  • Middlesbrough – 33.1 per cent
  • Newcastle – 34.4 per cent
  • North Tyneside – 34.7 per cent
  • Northumberland – 26.2 per cent
  • North Yorkshire – 26 per cent
  • Redcar and Cleveland – 31.7 per cent
  • South Tyneside – 30.5 per cent
  • Stockton – 31 per cent
  • Sunderland – 32.1 per cent