THEY'VE slashed crime - and now police officers in Blackburn's burglary team have been named as finalists in this year's Public Servants of the Year Awards 2004.

And a Hyndburn Council worker is also in line for one of the awards for helping the local authority to boost the amount of waste being recycled.

The awards recognise and reward achievements across all sectors of the UK public services.

And the Blackburn bobbies have been shortlisted as finalists in the uniformed services category to become Public Service Team of the Year Award 2004.

Joining them will be Hyndburn Council environmental maintenance manager David Allonby, who could be named Public Servant of the Year.

The contest is organised by Public Finance magazine and supported by the Government and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

Other uniformed services finalists include Lancashire Constabulary's Central Division, the Prison Service and Resettlement Service.

Blackburn burglary team's efforts have resulted in the number of reported burglaries in the town dropping from 1,239 in 2001/2 to 906 the year later.

The team targets offenders and crime hotspots, and visits known offenders when released from prison, to help break the pattern of offending. And disruption visits are made to persistent offenders, to check on their movements and associates.

Inspector Mick Laraway, who put the team, which was formed in July 2002, forward for the award, said: "The remit of the burglary team is perfectly clear -- to target offenders and hotspot areas and in doing so reduce the number of victims of burglary.

"Detecting crimes is not our only focus. Delivering a good quality of service to all members of the public is incredibly important.

"Burglary is one of those crimes that is invasive and can have a dramatic effect on the victim.

"It is important that we have competent officers who are dedicated to reducing this type of crime, but who can also deliver the quality of care that the public expect."

The team is up for an award in the "Common Good, Team Achievement in Uniformed Services" category.

Mr Allonby was nominated after seeing household recycling in the borough soar from six per cent to 20 per cent between April and September 2003. He also secured £627,000 from a government waste minimisation fund and a joint bid for £95,000 with the Lancashire Waste Partnership. This was used for the kerbside collection of recyclable household waste for 98 per cent of Hyndburn homes.