CHIEF Constable Pauline Clare has welcomed the way her officers are doing their job.

Her comments follow the publication of police service performance indicators set by the Audit Commission, The Inspectorate of the Constabulary and the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Mrs Clare said the report showed Lancashire Constabulary was improving its performance against nationally and locally set targets.

"I'm heartened by most of the facts and figures published in these performance indicators," she said.

"They go some way towards proving the public is satisfied with the way we are policing the county."

Police Authority chairman Coun Ruth Henig added: "Our aim is to provide a policing service which meets the needs and wishes of all our communities and these figures help show we are well on the way towards meeting the challenge."

The figures show that 96 per cent of 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds and 97 per cent of high priority emergency calls are attended within 15 minutes.

Crimes per 1,000 of population fell last year from 78.7 to 75.5 and the number of burglaries per 1,000 dwellings was down from 34 to 31.

Road accidents resulting in injuries rose from 6,109 to 6,416 but the numbers of serious or fatal accidents fell by nine per cent.

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