Tackling the root causes of crime must be the top priority in the battle to make Hampshire a safer place to live, probation chiefs said this week.

In a bid to improve the service's links with local communities and tackle re-offending rates, over 200 key figures from across the county were brought together in the docks on Wednesday.

The county-wide probation service is aiming to be a "vessel for change" and held the one-off conference in a symbolic venue--Southampton docks--to drive home the message.

Dermot Boyle, chairman of Hampshire Probation Board, said: "We must build on our partnerships to tackle the problems of drugs, alcohol, mental illness and the effects of poor education attainment.

"We want to extend our links with all communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as part of our fundamental commitment to diversity and race equality."

David Scott, chief officer for probation, stressed that, in order to close the "revolving door" of Hampshire prisons, the service must stop working in isolation.

"The probation service cannot achieve any of its aims alone. To be effective, it must work in partnership with the statutory and voluntary sectors and we must strive at all times to promote and earn public confidence in our work," he said.

In a major drive to bring victims on board, Mr Scott said that a new victims unit would open in Winchester in the New Year.

"Victims have felt excluded from the criminal justice process and we are now trying to take their views into consideration.

"The unit will keep the victim informed about the progress of the offender through the system. For instance, informing them if the offender is about to be released from prison.

"In this case, the victim might like to have a condition that the offender must make no contact with them."

He said that they were also keen to hear from other organisations which could benefit from community service.

Over 200,000 hours of carefully supervised work is undertaken as part of sentence's each year, he said.

Mr Scott said: "We work with a whole range of organisations from charity shops to parish councils - anyone that benefits from free labour.

"We assess the risk of people we are putting this way and make sure they are specially supervised."