CRIME figures in Lancashire have been slashed by a fifth over the last five years, according to figures published today by the Government.

A league table comparing how each force in the country has performed has been published for the first time.

And although the crime figures have been dramatically cut in Lancashire the county still comes 22 out of the country's 43 forces.

Last year there was an increase in crime in Lancashire with 118,117 recorded incidents committed but figures were considerably lower in previous years and the overall trend over the last five years is downwards.

Chief Constable Pauline Clare said: "Reducing crime is one of our top priorities. Every year we set challenging local targets. I am pleased to note our national position over the last five years, but our own attention is very much on the present.

"This year we are aiming to reduce crime by six per cent across Lancashire and the good news is that we are on track to achieve that.

"Our reduction for the year is currently running at more than eight per cent."

She added: "The constabulary itself has been coping with a lot of changes over the last five years. "Internally, we have restructured and a adopted problem solving policy and have really only begun to settle into our new way of working over the last 18 months."

The table shows wide variations in crime reduction performances for England and Wales and was launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In Northumbria, judged to have performed the best in the Home Office league table, recorded crime fell by 37% between 1993-94 and 1998-99, followed by Durham at 34%.

This compared with a 1% reduction in Sussex, the worst performing police force for crime reduction over the same period.

Overall crime fell by 19% across all 43 forces over the last five years under the old system of counting recorded crime.

The Prime Minister said: "These figures show what a tremendous job the police and others have done in recent years but we all need to re-double our efforts, we can do this by sharing best practice - if we know something works let's all do it. But we can also use our imagination in cutting crime - let's be creative."

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