AVON and Somerset's Chief Constable has welcomed progress made by the force in its delivery of policing services.

Home Office officials published an assessment of the constabulary last week covering seven themes, including crime reduction, citizen focus and resource use.

The report awarded five good ratings and two fair ratings - an improvement on last year.

Colin Port said: "We prioritise crime which is important to local people and recognise the issues we need to improve on that will have an impact on the lives of our communities.

"Improving local policing services is a challenging journey and I am very pleased that today's reports give a clear indication that Avon and Somerset Constabulary is moving in the right direction.

"I said that I wanted to improve our performance across the board and we have."

Crime detection has increased from 16.8% to 23.3% and thefts from motor vehicles are at their lowest levels since 1985.

Dr Moira Hamlin, chairman of the Police Authority, said: "As an authority we have been closely monitoring the performance of the force to ensure our communities are receiving a value for money, quality policing service.

"Today's reports show that the force is moving in the right direction."