LANCASHIRE'S police chief has described her final year in charge as one of the toughest in her seven-year tenure.

Pauline Clare is set to quit as Chief Constable next month and in her annual report to the police authority she said the past 12 months had been "a testing time".

The riots in Burnley last summer saw police launch a major offensive, stretching their resources to the limit as they battled to bring order to the town.

Mrs Clare said the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington also placed considerable demands on the force.

In her foreword to the report Mrs Clare said: "Not only had we to attempt to ensure that no further terrorist acts took place in Lancashire but also, just as significantly, we had to provide visible reassurance to the community at large as well as those members of the minority ethnic communities who, on occasions, felt particularly vulnerable."

Referring to the disturbances which tore through Burnley, Mrs Clare said that by working closely with partners, police had been able to tackle the issues which sparked the trouble.

Chief superintendent John Knowles, divisional commander for Pennine Division, said that as a result of public meetings in the wake of the riots police have acted to avoid any repeat.

He said: "At public meetings I attended as a task force member, I heard the public shout very loudly for two things. First bobbies on the beat working in communities and secondly more action against street-level drug dealers who blight many of our areas.

"As a direct result of what the public said we now have 18 community beat managers working in all three boroughs in the division."

Overall it was a good year for the county's police with all crime falling 2.0 per cent, from 24,156 reported incidents to 23,662, thanks in part to initiatives such as Operation Reassure, which targeted burglaries and prolific offenders.

Mrs Clare summed up her last report by heaping praise on her colleagues who, she believed, had made Lancashire Police the "best police force in the country".

Mrs Clare will be replaced by current deputy chief Paul Stephenson.