GREENWICH'S hard core of young criminals are to be electronically tagged, educated and watched in a bid to cut repeat offending.

The Youth Justice Board initiative is part of £45m nationwide Home Office programme to tackle persistent offenders.

Youth offending teams (YOTs) in Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark, grouped together on a geographical basis, will receive £300,000 a year and will target 50 young criminals.

Overall, nearly 500 of London's most prolific offenders, from eight boroughs, will be put through a six-month rehabilitation programme which could include meeting their victims, compulsory education and weekday curfews at supervision centres.

Each YOT will choose who should go on the scheme, those eligible will have committed at least four offences in the past year and it will be tailored to individuals needs.

For offenders who are not in education there will be 25 hours contact time a week, which does not aim to replace education but help them return to it through behaviour programmes and personal and social education.

A Greenwich Council spokesman confirmed there is a hard core of roughly 12 young offenders who are responsible for 25 per cent of youth crime throughout the borough.

The spokesman said: “If noone intervenes and helps young offenders or if they don't get on the YOT scheme, there is a good chance they will become hardened criminals. The scheme's aim is to redirect them and their way of thinking.

“The new powers will enable the youth offending team to know where the youths are.”

The National Association for Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders will be managing the project in liaison with the three YOTs.

Greenwich YOT will soon be recruiting staff to run the scheme and expects the pilot to be in operation before the end of November.