THE number of children arrested for possessing drugs in the past year has risen by more than 35%.

A total of 228 children aged 17 and under were arrested for possessing crack, cocaine, heroin and cannabis from March 2009 to March 2010, compared to 166 during the same period the year before.

The biggest increase in this age category was arrests for possession of heroin, which rose by more than 50% from five arrests to 12.

The increase in the 17 and under age band was greater than that for 18 to 25s, where there were four more arrests overall this year compared to last year. The number of arrests for possession of heroin decreased from 41 in March 2008 to March 2009, to 30 in the past year.

"Any increase like this is concerning," said Dave Gilbert, chief executive officer at DARE UK, a charity that educates children between the ages of nine and 16 about the dangers of drugs.

"There's no one single factor that's the cause. We've got a situation where there's an economic downturn and that's affected many parts of society. I wonder to what extent it has affected people's behaviour?"

Mr Gilbert said DARE will launch a new resource for secondary school pupils in September, called Keeping it Real, which will encourage children to think about the choices they have before they decide to take drugs. But police said the increase in arrests may be because of a focus on young people such as through the Tackling Knives Action Programme.

Detective Superintendent Andy O'Hagan said: "Unlike other crimes when a rise in police activity reflects a reduction in crime, operations to target drugs offences will result in more arrests.

"Involvement in schemes such as Crimestoppers' Rat on a Rat and strong community links through our neighbourhood policing teams helps improve local intelligence. It also provides information, which the police can follow up, often leading to arrests and the seizure of drugs.

"We have seen increased enforcement activity and the use of stop and search powers throughout initiatives such as the Home Office's Tackling Knives Action Programme.''

claire.carter@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk