An independent scrutiny panel has been set up by West Yorkshire prosecutors to further increase the success rate of rape cases taken to court.

Successful rape prosecutions in West Yorkshire went up by 12 per cent in the last year.

Now chief Crown prosecutor Martin Goldman has introduced a new system which will see unsuccessful rape cases scrutinised by a team of experts.

The Rape Scrutiny Panel is made up of representatives from eight Yorkshire-based rape support organisations.

Mr Goldman said: “We must continually look to make improvements and I firmly believe the rape scrutiny panel will go a long way towards achieving this aim. The panel members are tasked with identifying any common themes, trends or issues which may be leading to unsuccessful outcomes."