A senior minister has floated the idea of teenage yobs being forced to wear US-style uniforms while carrying out community punishments.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears told the Observer newspaper on Sunday that the public want to see "justice being done".

She said the chain gang-style uniforms could help name and shame offenders as well as improve the transparency of non-custodial sentences.

"People feel very strongly that they don't often see justice being done," she said.

"[When] people get fixed penalty notices I would like to see a very quick connection to community punishment, that people see being done. I want them to be identified."

A Home Office spokesman added that: "This is something we would consider, but it is not a firm policy proposal. We want members of the community to have confidence that anti-social behaviour is being tackled."

Tory scepticism

But shadow home secretary David Davis suggested it may be latest in a long line of government policy gimmicks.

"Labour have been in power for eight years and what have they done?" he asked.

"They have permitted 24 hour drinking, let over 100,000 prisoners out of prison early, whilst at the same time making the life of a police constable on the beat more and more difficult.

"An idea like this may well make a minor contribution to public confidence but it will not make up for eight years of neglect of law and order."

Union hostility

And Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the Probation Officers, union was hostile to the suggestion.

"This idea has been trailed before and it was always dropped because there was no evidence that it would work," he said.

"Introducing uniforms, caps, badges, or naming and shaming offenders is likely to degrade them, make them resentful and not turn up for community punishment.

"This will mean the breach rate will soar and more will end up in prison which is exactly what has happened in the US.

"Half of all reception into prison or custody in the States are for breaching community punishments."

"There is no evidence whatsoever that uniforms will cut crimes or enhance British protection and therefore should be quietly dropped," he added.