Curfew orders backed by electronic tagging for juvenile offenders are to be widened to cover the whole country.

The Home Office has decided that pilot studies in the courts of Greater Manchester and Norfolk will be widened from February next year to cover all of England and Wales. The curfew orders will be available to courts under section 43 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 and will cover young offenders under the age of 16, allowing a three-month maximum curfew order to be made from two to 12 hours a day.

Home Office research showed the tagged curfew orders for 10 to 15-year-olds had found favour with the courts, offenders and their families who preferred the restrictions of the tagged curfew rather than a custodial sentence.

Announcing the new measure, Jack Straw said: "Tackling youth crime and reforming the youth justice system continues to be a key priority for the Government. I believe that this new power for courts to tag juvenile offenders will prove to be another useful weapon in the armoury in the fight against crime, helping prevent re-offending and help to protect the public.

"The orders will help to break patterns of offending by keeping young offenders off the streets and out of trouble at the times they are most likely to offend. Electronically monitored curfews for this age group seek to break the pattern of offending behaviour diverting young offenders from crime by placing restrictions on the individual and at the same time often bringing order to a chaotic lifestyle. We will also continue to discuss the possibility of using this measure as a condition of bail," he said.