A COUNTY councillor is leading the war against crime -- by taking part in meetings chaired by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

And today Ruth Henig, Chairman of the Lancashire Police Authority, revealed she would like to see courts open up at teatime so youngsters committing street crime could go before magistrates within minutes of being arrested.

Coun Henig, also chairman of the Association of Police Authorities, has been selected to sit on Prime Minister Tony Blair's Strategic Crime Action Group which will meet regularly to discuss solutions to the rising problem of street crime.

It was set up in the wake of claims that Britain's streets were no longer safe -- with Lancashire's being placed inside the top 10 most dangerous.

The group met for the first time last week and again yesterday to discuss solutions to tackling street crime, which includes muggings, robberies and assaults.

Coun Henig said: "When you say Lancashire is in the worst top 10, it is number 10 on that list and no way is it comparable to places like Manchester, London or the West Midlands.

"But having said that, there still is an issue that people want us to tackle and we are looking at a lot of possible solutions.

"We already have a good relationship with the courts and they do fast track juvenile offenders. It can be very frustrating to see someone commit a crime and then get bailed so they can carry on offending."