LANCASHIRE Constabulary has been given a massive vote of confidence by the public according to latest figures.

The performance statistics - to be presented to the Police Authority today (April 15) - reveal that more than 92 per cent of people helped by the police are satisfied with the overall service delivery, exceeding the 90 per cent target set by the constabulary.

In addition, the violent crime detection rate was 78.5, topping the 70 per cent target, and the number of people arrested for supplying drugs reached 670, 30 more than the target figure.

Lancashire's acting Deputy Chief Constable David Smith said: "The force's year-end performance figures cover a range of objectives and, while the constabulary has performed extremely well in some of them, there is room for improvement in others."

One such area is crime reduction, where the constabulary only managed to push down the number of reported crimes by 2.7 per cent compared to a five per cent target - and the same target was set for crimes of nuisance and disorder where only a 3.1 per cent reduction was recorded.

Perhaps more alarmingly the constabulary fell 3.5 per cent short of the target to answer 999 calls within ten seconds, which was set at 97 per cent.

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