More criminals are being brought to justice and people have more confidence in prosecutors, according to a report published today.

Government inspectors scrutinised West Yorkshire Crown Prosecutions Service which includes cases in Bradford and Bingley Magistrates Court and Bradford Crown Court.

But they found inconsistency in the handling of cases arising from racist incidents and called for improvements.

The service has received both praise and criticism from the inspectors who looked at its work earlier this year.

The main concerns involved case work and the high number of instances where the prosecutors decided to drop proceedings. The 19.6 per cent rate of cases dropped was high compared with a national average of 12.7 per cent.

Earlier this year, figures on rape cases revealed that in 2002 132 people appeared before magistrates in West Yorkshire charged with rape. But a staggering 103 fell out of the system, either through lack of evidence or because the victim did not want to proceed with the case.

Today, inspectors said substantial progress had been made in communicating with ethnic communities but said the information needed to be shared better with staff.

The overall standard of some prosecution cases outlined to courts in West Yorkshire was below the national standard.

However, some of the lawyers assessed during the inspection were among the most inexperienced in the area.

The service was at the forefront of changes which involved giving early advice to police on charges for street crimes.

On the downside, this meant preparation for some magistrates court cases had suffered. Measures are being taken to increase efficiency.

Persistent young offenders were dealt with speedily, and victims were treated with proper consideration and given good support.

Stephen Wooler, HM chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The report identified many positive successes under part of CPS West Yorkshire. It is to the credit of managers and staff alike that they have continued to build on past achievements at a time when changes in the CPS nationally and the wider criminal justice system have created additional pressures for all."

Chief Crown Prosecutor Neil Franklin said the report recognised the excellent work being done in West Yorkshire by staff at all levels.

"While we acknowledge that there is need for improvement in some areas, plans to address these difficulties are already in place," he said. "We are confident that these will soon yield positive results."

During the year ending last December the service handled 70,405 cases in the Magistrates Court and 5,404 in the Crown Court. Advice was given to the police before charging in a further 17,734 cases. The report says latest figures up to October last year showed 3.4 per cent more offences had been brought to justice in West Yorkshire and public confidence in the service was up by two per cent.