A LANCASHIRE police chief has defended the way crime figures are recorded after campaigners claimed the country is on the brink of anarchy.

Acting Assistant Chief Constable Jerry Graham said he was "confident" that crime across the county had reached all times lows.

However Norman Brennan, director of the national Victims of Crime Trust and a serving police officer, said he has received 10,000 letters and emails, hundreds from police in Lancashire supporting his view that crime is escalating.

He claimed the Government was massaging crime figures and predicted outbreaks of civil disorder within three to five years unless moves were made to get a grip on crime.

Victims of Crime Trust director Norman Brennan said: "The perception and reality of crime are much closer now than they have been.

"I've heard from 10,000 police officers, from across the country including many from Lancashire, through my forms and surveys.

"I know what the police feel so I find it amazing that people say crime is going down."

He said violent crime has reached "epidemic proportions" and said we were experiencing "anarchy" on the streets of Britain.

Mr Brennan added: "If the Government doesn't get a grip soon, I predict outbreaks of civil disorder within three to five years."

However the assistant chief said fewer people were becoming victims of crime, and officers were detecting over one in three crimes - the highest level ever in the county.

Mr Graham said: "We are very confident about reduction of crime in Lancashire but not complacent.

"The crime rate is based on two elements; firstly crimes that people report to the police and secondly a separate survey of people's experience of crime, designed to identify crimes unreported to police, known as the British Crime Survey.

"Both of these show reductions in overall crime with significant reductions in Lancashire in certain categories such as house burglary and car crime, with many fewer victims and many more crimes solved.

"However we recognise that certain categories of crime remain under reported such as hate crime and domestic violence.

"We accept that the area of concern, to communities, is in relation to offences which impact on their quality of life such as anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and lawlessness on the streets.

"The Police Authority and Lancashire Constabulary have recognised this and have invested in additional recourses into neighbourhood policing.

"Teams comprising officers and PCSOs are deployed across communities of Lancashire to tackle quality of life issues of concern to the local people."