Laws and strategies to reduce knife crime are in a ''mess'' and failing to deliver any reduction in the number of victims, according to a Hampshire expert.

Dr Bob Golding said research he had carried out showed Government action to reduce violent crime was ''piecemeal'', short-term and ineffective.

Dr Golding, who has been consulted by a Home Affairs Select Committee investigating knife crime, has carried out research on whether Government action to reduce violent crime was effective.

The former assistant chief constable of Warwickshire Police but now of the University of Portsmouth, said: "As it stands, legislation is a mess. Laws governing offensive weapons are derived from at least six separate Acts introduced in piecemeal fashion.

"There is no legal framework for dealing with knives as a whole. Every new provision inevitably increases the chance that the police will make mistakes that result in failed prosecutions.

"In addition, youth offending teams, which were designed to carry out violent crime prevention programmes, no longer have the resources to do their job.

"Over 60% of the managers we interviewed felt they weren't being given the resources to run effective prevention programmes and too much of their funding is being used to 'buy' custodial places for young offenders."

Dr Golding, who works as a crime lecturer, said that he believed crime should be treated as seriously as a health epidemic.

He said: "Long-term funded and sustained preventative activity across agencies is essential.

"While this is old, received wisdom and obvious, it's not happening as it should. We argue that knife crime should be treated as a public health problem, an epidemiological problem.

"The research begs the question: why have the principles of violent crime reduction not been implemented effectively?

"We believe the institutional structures in both national and local government are hindering an effective approach in delivering a workable, long-term violent crime reduction strategy.

"Information and intelligence sharing between agencies is essential but it's not happening, notably between police, accident and emergency departments and schools."

Among recommendations Dr Golding has made to the Parliamentary committee were that legislation should be brought in to compel police, hospitals, local authorities and other statutory bodies to share information on violent crime.

And that laws on both knife and gun crime should be overhauled to make them simpler, clearer and easier to implement.

He said: "There is urgent need for further research into how information and strategies are managed locally and nationally and this potentially has implications for local governance and accountability."