A POLICE force ranked among the worst in the country a few months ago has already improved its rating in two areas.

In June, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary published assessments of the country's 43 forces.

North Yorkshire was ranked 38th and did not receive excellent ratings in any of the 16 categories.

The force scored poorly in the number of high volume crimes, such as car thefts and burglaries and in performance management.

The assessments have now been revised and both poor marks have been upgraded to fair.

North Yorkshire Police Authority will hear of the improvement at a meeting on September 27.

In a report to the authority, Chief Constable Della Cannings said: "North Yorkshire Police has undergone a positive step change, particularly in the areas of volume crime reduction and performance management.

"These improvements have manifested themselves in many ways in the past 12 months.

"It is of particular importance, however, that these improvements have now been formally recognised through baseline, given that this is to be the future of police performance assessment.

"It is also extremely encouraging that North Yorkshire Police has seen a positive shift in two areas previously considered poor, against an understanding that changes to the grades were to be the exception rather than the rule."