THE CHIEF constable of Cleveland police claims the force has turned the corner, despite a report that places it in the bottom five in the country.

The first ever "baseline assessments", published by the Home Office, grade each force in 16 categories - ranking them excellent, good, fair or poor.

Cleveland was given six poor scores covering such areas as high-volume crimes such as car thefts and burglaries, hate crime, public reassurance, call handling and management.

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Keith Povey, made it clear that Sean Price, Cleveland's chief constable, could be removed from his job unless the force was turned around.

And he warned that new powers recently given to Home Secretary David Blunkett meant Mr Price could be sacked quickly if Cleveland's performance worsened.

Mr Price insisted major steps had already been taken to address areas in which the force had under-performed in the past, but still expected front-line staff to face criticism from the public.

He said: "If the HMIC were to carry out a review tomorrow, I'm sure he would recognise the positive changes that have taken place in recent months and I'm confident this will be reflected in the HMIC's update later this year.

"We have got really decent people working for Cleveland police and they want to give good service and they have been working hard on the areas that need to improve."

He added: "I am expecting us to take an awful lot of criticism. People will just look at the result without reading the detail, which shows what progress we have already made.

"People need to remember this is an historic report and we have already started making improvements."

Dr Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, called for support for Mr Price.

"What we all have to remember is that the present chief constable has only been in his post for a short time, and most of the problems identified by the Home Office are long standing," he said.

"Sean price deserves the support of the entire community in his efforts to turn round Cleveland police

"It is a force and authority that has not been well served in the past, but I believe this is now changing."

Ted Cox, vice-chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, said the HMIC report did not address the issue of the resources available to improve the force's performance.

He said: "We have constantly argued that, in reaching decisions on funding levels, the Government should recognise that the Cleveland force, although relatively small, operates in one of the most densely-populated conurbations in the country and faces problems of crime and levels of economic and social deprivation much more akin to the 'big city' areas.

"What we must continue to argue for is resources which properly reflect those needs."