BRINGING offenders face to face with their victims can halve the number who go on to commit further crimes.

That is the conclusion of a study which found teaching offenders about the harm their victims suffered was far more effective than a traditional "dressing down" by police.

It is promising news for the new youth offending panels now under way in Bolton where victims have the option of helping decide their young attackers' punishments. The study, by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, looked at a scheme introduced by Thames Valley police in 1998 where offenders met their victims or communicated with them by letter.

As well as cutting reoffending, the scheme helped ease the concerns of victims trying to come to terms with what happened to them, said experts from Oxford University's Centre for Criminological Research.

Out of 56 young offenders, only 14 per cent went on to be cautioned or convicted of further offences after taking part in the scheme -- half the usual reoffending rate.

Most apologised to their victims and a third entered into written agreements to make some kind of amends.

Co-author Dr Richard Young said: "Our research suggests that restorative justice can have real benefits for victims as well as offenders." Victims of crimes in Bolton are being asked to sit on panels deciding how to punish their offenders under new "referral orders" introduced last month.

A 16-year-old boy who came face to face with his assault victim, also aged 16, signed a three-month contract which included doing unpaid community work.

The orders can be given to first-time offenders who plead guilty and the aim is to turn young people away from crime early on.