INSPECTORS have confirmed that North Yorkshire's police force has made significant improvements since a dismal initial report ranked it among the worst performing in the country.

The force had claimed that the inspection, in 2003, came before major policy steps had been given time to have their effect and subsequent reports would show a big improvement. In July the inspectors returned to "refresh" their assessment, paying particular attention to those areas it had originally branded as poor.

Because it was not a full inspection, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) stated that it was most unlikely to make any changes at this stage to its initial assessment and that any upgrade would be reserved only for forces which had shown exceptional improvements in performance.

Even so, after scrutinising how the force has performed 12 months after that first inspection, the inspectors have raised the grade in the key areas of reducing the volume of crime and investigation and performance management. Previously poor they are now described as fair.

"Given that the HMIC's position was to leave grades unchanged, these improvements are all the more significant and indicative of the great strides that North Yorkshire Police has made in these areas," said chief constable Della Cannings in a report to the North Yorkshire Police Authority.