LANCASHIRE police force has been graded 'amber' by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, in relation to its readiness for Year 2000 compliancy.

The Inspectorate has a three point scale of red, amber and blue. The amber grade means that Lancashire police still have work to do, but fully expect to complete it by the end of September.

Only one force in the country, Dyfed Powys, achieved a blue grade and none received red, which would have indicated a severe risk of disruption in systems.

The report stated to Chief Constable Pauline Clare: "Lancashire was very near the top of the upper quarter of all forces.

"You will have absolutely no difficulty in achieving a blue rating by the last quarter of the year." Paul Stephenson, deputy chief constable of Lancashire, said: "This is good work for the force and our communities.

"The millennium weekend will be very challenging for all of us with extra demand placed on services but we are confident of being able to maintain our core services.

"We are expecting Lancashire to enjoy a happy and peaceful New Year period but it would be irresponsible if we did not consider potential problems and prepare plans for dealing with them.

"After all there is no blueprint for this event; we are involved in making history and we are determined it will be remembered for the right reasons.

The police have also been given an extra £100,000 for policing operations surrounding Millennium celebrations.

The extra cash has been added to the £500,000 original estimate to make sure the historic event is policed properly.

Supt Bernard Kershaw, who heads the Year 2000 Project team at Hutton, said: "We can't predict with any degree of certainty the demands there will be on police resources.

"Our aim is to ensure that the public enjoy the celebrations safely and we a re on target to achieve that."

An increased police presence will be on the streets from the afternoon of New Year's Eve until well into New Year's Day.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.