The number of children arrested by Kent police has halved in just four years, latest figures reveal.

Police in the county arrested 3,752 youngsters in 2014 - the equivalent of more than 10 arrests per day - which is hugely down from 2010 when 7,505 children were questioned.

It follows a campaign by the Howard League for Penal Reform to keep as many children as possible out of the criminal justice system.

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Every police service in England and Wales made fewer arrests last year than in 2010 - with some areas slashing the number by 70%.

Across England and Wales, police made 245,763 arrests of children aged 17 and under during 2010.

That number has fallen every year since.

There were 112,037 arrests during 2014, of which boys accounted for 83 per cent and girls accounted for 17%.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said:“The Howard League has worked closely with police forces round the country to stem the flow of children being sucked into the criminal justice system.

“The fantastic success of our programme of work and the police improvement to their practices means that thousands of children have not had their life chances blighted.

“It is for parents and schools to deal with normal childish challenging behaviour, not the police.

“It is to the credit of the police that they have introduced restorative approaches and given front line officers discretion to make professional decisions.”

Superintendent Anne Lisseman said: “It is good news that fewer young people are coming into custody. Proportionate actions are vital and where possible and dependent on the seriousness of the offence we will always look for alternative methods to arrest when dealing with under-age offenders.

"Options such as street cautions or issuing a summons can negate the need for an offender to come into custody.

"Additionally community resolutions are an important and really beneficial way of helping young people understand the impact of their actions and deter them from crime, as it gives them an opportunity to change their behaviour rather than be criminalised at a young age.

"If a suspect does need to be taken into custody a full risk assessment is carried out to identify any specific needs that the detainee has.”

Child arrest figures for Kent Police

2010: 7,505

2011: 6,409

2012: 4,412

2013: 4,602

2014: 3,752