SERVICES provided in Darlington to help young offenders stay away from crime have been ranked among the top 15 in the country.

An audit report has marked the borough council's youth offending service against national standards set by the Home Office.

These standards are the minimum required by law and cover all aspects of how young offenders are treated as they go through the justice system, from cautions to imprisonment.

The standards cover everything from supporting young people who are given a final police warning to visiting young people who have been sent to a secure offenders' unit and preparing them for release.

The regular Youth Justice Board audits measure how each youth offending service in the country performs against those standards.

Following the most recent audit, Darlington's services were given a score of 80.6 per cent.

This put the town 14th out of 155 nationally and joint first in the Northern region, alongside Gateshead.

The top service in the country was Wrexham, Wales, with 95 per cent.

Bill Dixon, council cabinet member for public protection, said: "For such a small local authority, this is a great achievement and a tribute to the dedication of the team who work with young people and their families to stop re-offending. People can have confidence that the youth justice system in the borough is working.

"There is a lot of publicity about the behaviour of some of our young people, but residents can be assured that the youth offending service is working to make sure they are dealt with quickly by the justice system and that they understand the consequences of their actions."

The impressive national rating follows an internal audit, published in July, which graded two out of four areas of the borough's youth offending service as being excellent.