CLEVLAND Constabulary was this week named as one of four forces giving cause for concern over the way it records crime.

A report published by the Audit Commission on Tuesday put Cleveland in the bottom four - along with Cumbria, South Yorkshire and the Metropolitan forces - in a national survey of how police had responded to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard.

The commission said that, while the overall performance nationally was improving, 60pc of forces had yet to comply with the national Home Office standard.

James Strachan, Audit Commission chairman, said: "Accurate crime recording is imperative if we are to reduce crime and make communities safer. This is not about unnecessary red tape, it is key to targeting police resources effectively and making sure public money is spent where it is most needed. That's why the police set themselves this standard.

"The second year of our review shows improvements are not happening quickly enough in a number of authorities."

The commission gave each of the 43 authorities and forces in England and Wales a traffic light rating of green, amber or red.

Seventeen authorities are now meeting the overall national standard and are rated as green, compared to 12 in 2003.

Twenty-two authorities were rated as amber, compared to 21 in 2003.

Cleveland, Cumbria, South Yorkshire and Metropolitan are now categorised as red, compared to ten last year.

Ted Cox, chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, said he would be looking for urgent action to improve the way in which the force recorded crime.

He said: "I do believe that this is a matter where, as an authority, we have to recognise that things really do have to improve.

"I am sure that, following the publication of this report, we will be expecting the force to come forward with proposals which will ensure that the statistics presented to ourselves and the public are reliable.

"Recording crime accurately and properly is important, both in dealing with individual incidents and assessing overall performance.

"Quite rightly, the force has been emphasising the progress made over recent months in bringing down crime levels across the area and it is vital that good work is properly reflected through our recording systems."