HOME Office minister Hazel Blears visited the city to see some of the work being done to combat crime in Ingol.

She met with members of the Ingol Community Association (ICA), at the city's Lawson Street police station, before taking a tour of Preston Prison.

At the Ribbleton Lane jail the minister was shown the work being done with prolific offenders in order to stop them re-offending once released.

Ms Blears said: "I spoke to some of the residents in Ingol about the work that is going on with the reassurance scheme and they told me their estate has been transformed, it was quite heartening."

In October the Citizen revealed crime in the Ingol area had been cut, in the previous 12 months, under the home office pilot scheme, the National Reassurance project, which started in September 2003.

Bill McGrath, ICA chairman, said: "She sat in on one of the reassurance meetings that we have every two weeks with the police.

"We were very impressed with her approach, she's a lovely person."

During her visit to the prison Ms Blears discussed the Government's three pronged approach to tackling crime by first preventing and deterring it, then catching and convicting criminals, before resettling and rehabilitating offenders.

"In prisons like Preston a tremendous effort is being made to break the cycle of re-offending by ensuring that offenders are given the right support in the right areas before and after their release from jail," she said.

Governor of Preston prison, Alan Brown, added: "Seventy per cent of offenders lack basic numeracy and literacy when they come in to prison.

"Through the use of our IT suite and education we try to get them up to at least the bottom rung of the job market, so when they leave they have prospects of getting a job."