Young offenders in Sussex wait longer to be dealt with by courts than in other parts of the country.

New figures show that between April and June 2001 a persistent young offender in Sussex waited an average of 87 days.

This compares with a national average of 73 days.

Only the Metropolitan, Northamptonshire and Avon and Somerset Police had higher averages out of the 42 police criminal justice divisions in England and Wales.

But it is an improvement on the first quarter of the year, when convictions of young offenders were taking an average of 101 days.

The Government has pledged to halve the average time between arrest and sentence for persistent young offenders in England and Wales from its 142 day peak in 1996 to 71 days.

The statistics released by the Lord Chancellor's Department every quarter are used to monitor their performance.