A record number of sex offenders, including rapists and paedophiles, managed to avoid punishment last year – because they said "sorry" to their victims.

These offenders escaped getting a criminal record after the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) agreed to allow them to receive what is known as a "community resolution".

The police practice, which involves the guilty party admitting responsibility for the offence and either apologising or paying compensation to a victim, were meant to be used for low-level crimes.

However, data from the Home Office shows they were used to clear up a record 912 sex crimes in the last financial year including sexual assaults, grooming and flashing offences.

It means that every week more than 17 sex offenders are escaping any punishment and side-stepping the court system after being allowed to just say 'sorry' to their victims.

Police chiefs say community resolutions are normally only ever used in relation to sexual offences if the victim is content for the crime to be dealt with in that way.

The tally of cases dealt with in this way in the last year included four rape attacks on children, 20 grooming crimes, 400 sex assaults and 166 offences of sexual activity with a child.

Last year Derbyshire, Merseyside and the West Midlands forces used this method to finalise separate rape attacks in their areas on girls under 13, while Humberside police used the same method to conclude an investigation into the rape of a boy under 13.

The method was also used to deal with 173 crimes of exposure or voyeurism and one person who admitted the sexual exploitation of a child.

The forces that wrapped up the highest number of sexual offences using community resolutions in the last year were Lancashire (234), Greater Manchester (55), West Midlands (48), Humberside (41), Cheshire (36), Wiltshire (36) and Hampshire (35).

Last year's tally of 912 crimes finalised this way is a record high and the number is a rise of almost 50percent rise on the 622 sex offences dealt with in this way just 12 months earlier.

Officers say some of the offences are between two consenting underage children, and the incident has to be recorded as a crime, although it would be too severe a punishment to criminalise a youngster for the offence.

When a victim reports a crime, the police can opt for a 'community resolution' if the offender accepts they were responsible and offers some sort of apology or compensation – but typically they are only used for low level offences committed by people who are not considered prolific or dangerous offenders.

The victim's view in how the crime should be dealt with will be considered by the police but officers are not bound by it.

Community resolutions are said to offer offenders a 'second chance', in that they have the opportunity to make amends for their mistakes without suffering the consequences of a criminal conviction.

Kevin Moore, Retired Detective Chief Superintendent and former Head of Sussex Police CID, said: "These figures are deeply concerning.

"To my mind it is totally unacceptable to use community resolution as a means of disposal for any sexual offence.

"This runs the risk of only tackling the outcome rather than the source of the problem which is the warped mindset of the offender and seems to me to be a quick and expedient means of dealing with such cases.

"I think that the general public will be horrified to learn of these facts as well they should be. My other concern is what pressure is being put on victims to accept this method of disposal? The onus should not be put on victims. This burden should be removed from them."

The Home Office said community resolutions are intended to be used for less serious offences or incidents of anti-social behaviour.

It says they provide police with a "proportionate" means of addressing lower-level crime, primarily involving first-time offenders who have shown genuine remorse.

The National Police Chiefs' Council said there was a "complexity" and "nuance" behind the cases that the bald statistics did not show.