Teenage criminals should be fitted with wifi jammers instead of being committed to prison, one of Britain's most senior police officers has claimed.

Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas of the Police Superintendents' Association has claimed blocking the internet access of cyber criminals would be a more effective punishment than sending them to jail.

Two out of every five crimes today involves a cyber criminal.

Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, pictured, wants new methods to punish cyber criminals

Mr Thomas believes that a wifi jammer, but modified to be fit around the wrist of ankle of the offender would be an ideal punishment for someone who commits online crime

Mr Thomas believes such criminals could be fitted with an electronic device which will block Wifi signals in their immediate vicinity.

He said prison is not an effective way of preventing re-offending.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Thomas said: 'We have got to stop using 19th century punishments to deal with 21st century crimes. It costs around £38,000 a year to keep someone in prison but if you look at the statistics around short term sentencing the recidivism rate is extraordinarily high.

'So while we might feel good about ourselves that we have put someone in prison for 12 to 15 months, the chances are that person is going to come out of prison and commit more crime.

'We can continue jailing criminals but it is not going to help the long term situation and I speak as someone who has spent a career putting people in prison.'

Some prisoners have been fitted with electronic tags which can enforce a curfew of this one which continuously monitors alcohol levels in the person's system

Mr Thomas said hacking, identity theft and other types of online fraud were 21st century crimes and needed a similar approach.