Probation officers say action is needed to improve performance in the light of the government's interest in getting offenders to serve their sentences in the community, for example, by working with the elderly, instead of in Britain's overcrowded prisons.

The research, commissioned by the Association of Chief Officers of Probation (ACOP), found that 80% of offenders turned up for community sentences.

Twenty per cent were absent on three occasions. Half were promptly referred to the courts for breach of their order.

But the other half, including a small proportion of sex and violent offenders, were not followed up until the fifth or sixth absence.

Some were not referred to the courts at all.

Public order offences

Home Office guidelines say that after the first absence, a formal warning letter should be issued.

The second absence should trigger a final warning and then court action should begin after the third absence.

The study is the first time all 54 probation services in England and Wales have been surveyed about community sentences.

It looked at 10,008 offenders who began community service orders, probation orders and post-release licences in March.

The majority had committed public order offences, theft, shoplifting and fraud. Thirteen per cent had drink/driving convictions.

Only about 3.4% were violent or sex offenders.

The researchers found that the latter were more tightly supervised than other offenders, but even so some absences were not strictly dealt with.

Poor reporting

A spokesman for ACOP said part of the reason for the lapses, which varied enormously across the different services, was cultural.

"Probation officers traditionally want to keep people on community orders," said spokesman George Barrow.

"But research shows vigorous enforcement makes the orders more successful and reduces reconviction rates. The soft line can be counter-productive."

He added that some probation officers are worried the courts do not take breaches seriously enough and send offenders back to "try again".

Another reason for failure to take prompt action is poor reporting of absences.

'Public confidence'

Either absences or valid reasons for them, for example, that an offender is in police cells on another charge and cannot attend, are not noted.

Mr Barrow said the probation service realised it had to make enforcement a top priority.

"Referral to court after a third absence should become fairly automatic. We need to build public confidence in community sentences," he said.

He added that the problem of court attitudes to breaches was being dealt with through talks with the Magistrates' Association.

Probation officers were also discussing the need to prioritise enforcement with the police.

ACOP has drawn up an action plan which will go out to services. They will then investigate what their own local problems are and devise their own action plans.

The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders welcomed the research and said courts would only use community sentences if the public had confidence in them.