A GOVERNMENT minister has praised the efforts of the police in reducing crime in Lancashire.

Recent statistics revealed that the county has one of the best records in the country for cutting crime rates.

Lord Bassam, a Home Office Minister, was in the county last week and met police authority chairman Dr Ruth Henig and chief constable Pauline Clare.

He visited police headquarters and said: "I am glad to have been able visit Lancashire Constabulary and want to congratulate them on the efforts they have made to push crime rates in the county down by 20 per cent over the last five years."

Dr Henig said: "I was very pleased to meet up with Lord Bassam and to have the opportunity to give him an insight into some of the work being done by the police here in Lancashire.

"Obviously, we are delighted with our latest crime reduction figures and we were able to discuss these."

Lord Bassam went on to Blackpool, where he viewed the town's new CCTV monitoring system.

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