NEW figures today show that at least 74 freemasons are serving as magistrates in Lancashire - but there could be scores more, since almost 300 JPs refused to reply to a survey of the county's courts.

And Lancashire Police has been rapped for failing to set up its own masonic register to monitor how widely the organisation is represented in the force.

Only a handful of police forces have responded to Home Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw's call for open lists of officers who are "on the square" or members of masonic lodges.

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee originally called for action after an investigation which included evidence on the Blackburn Moat House incident, where two businessmen from Leicester were assaulted during a party attended by masons from Lancashire Police. It has now issued a second report on the subject of masons.

It regretted the slow progress with the police and contrasted it with swift action by magistrates and judges. So far, only a handful of forces have set up registers, including Avon and Somerset, South Wales and Dyfed-Powys. In contrast, national and local figures are available for magistrates after a questionnaire was sent to all of them.

Among the 5,290 judges and professional stipendiary magistrates, 263 declared they were masons, 4,744 said they were not, 70 replied to refuse to say, while 213 did not reply.

Of the 29,054 lay magistrates 1,465 said they were masons, 23,350 said they were not, 660 refused to say and 3,579 did not reply.

For the 11 magistrates benches in Lancashire, the figures were 74 declared freemasons; 647 non-masons; 13 refused to say and 295 did not reply.

The committee concluded: "We welcome the steps which the Home Office and the Lords Chancellor's Department have so far taken to require the police, members of the judiciary and others within their remit to disclose membership of freemasonry.

"But progress has been slow, particularly in respect of the police and we call for the process to be significantly speeded up with a clear timetable set."

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