The petition, which was handed into Downing Street today, was launched earlier this month by the families of two 17-year-olds who committed suicide after being arrested.
Nick and Jane Lawton’s son Joe took his own life two days after being arrested for failing a breath test.
Adrian and Ann Thornber's son Edward killed himself after being wrongly sent a letter to attend court instead of a warning after being caught with 50p worth of cannabis.
In both cases, the parents had not been informed of the arrest.
The petition calls for an end to a legal anomaly that means 17-year-olds are treated as adults rather than children when in police custody, meaning that their parents do not have to be informed of their arrest.
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