ALMOST 400 children in Irvine and Kilwinning have been charged with crimes in the last year.

New police figures show that in the last 12 months, 688 crimes involving children - some as young as eight - were reported to the police in North Ayrshire.

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland, show that Irvine is home to the most child offenders with 274 incidents in the last year.

Kilwinning is second with 109 followed by the three towns of Saltcoats (88), Stevenston (78) and Ardrossan (49).

The most common allegations made against young people under 16 involved threatening and abusive behaviour, assault and vandalism.

Out of the overall figures, 158 reports were made about threatening behaviour.

Minor assault counted for 155 charges while there were 104 reports of vandalism (reckless damage).

Other crimes listed amongst the figures included shoplifting (73), 22 drug possession charges and 19 counts of assault 
Serious assault, knife possession, fireraising, indecency and vehicle theft were also amongst the charges.

Additionally, 433 of the children charged with crimes were aged between 14 and 15.

The figures also highlight 238 kids between 10-13 and 17 children aged eight or nine also being charged.

In Scotland, children under the age of eight cannot be charged with a criminal offence.

National figures in 2014 found that children had committed 40,000 offences in Scotland between 2012 and 2014.

Chief Inspector Brian Shaw said: “We are concerned around every single crime but there’s no pattern of criminality that is of particular concern from those figures.

“The introduction of locality policing will engage with young people, engaging with communities and building relationships with them to advise and guide them to better pathways and prevent them committing crimes.

“For any child who does commit a crime, a wider view is taken to find the best disposal in the interests of the child.”