NORTH and West Yorkshire Police forces are among the worst in the country, official Government league tables have revealed - but just across the border, Lancashire is one of the best.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) graded the 43 forces in the country from poor to excellent in 16 activities.

West Yorkshire is in the bottom five on the league table, with North Yorkshire teetering on the edge of the failing five.

The figures were collated last year and do not take into account significant improvements in North Yorkshire's performance which should feature in the next league tables. Earlier this month North Yorkshire reported a 36 per cent reduction in domestic burglary, a 25 per cent reduction in non-domestic burglary and vehicle crime was down by 43 per cent for the months of April and May.

North Yorkshire's Chief Constable Della Cannings said the force was working hard on its weak points: "Many areas marked for improvement have already been addressed prior to the publication of the report.

"Performance figures for April and May this year have seen a huge decrease in all areas of reported crime with the exception of crimes of violence, which have shown a marked increase, and a significant increase in the number of arrests and the crime detection rate."

The Home Office report was deemed "out of date" by West Yorkshire Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn: "The report covered performance against a wide range of activity, but did not reflect recent improvements made in the key policing areas of burglary, car crime and robbery.""Meanwhile Lancashire Police has been named as one of the country's top performing forces.

It was classed as "excellent" or "good" in 15 of the 16 categories - more than any other force and placing it in the top tier of policing.

Chief Constable Paul Stephenson said he was proud of the Constabulary's achievements and he hoped people in the county would feel increasingly reassured by the fact that their police force was among the best in England and Wales.