The Home Office says police have improved at cutting crime

The worst was Humberside, according to the Home Office criteria. South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire were in the bottom five.

The best were West Mercia, Northumbria, Hampshire, Surrey and West Midlands.

Forces were rated for investigating and cutting crime, providing help, resource use, promoting safety, local policing and community confidence in the police.

Across 43 forces, there was an improvement in 56% of those rating categories, 39% were stable and 5% had deteriorated. Nine per cent of the ratings were poor, 40% fair, 44% good and 7% excellent.

Dyfed Powys, Gwent, Kent, Northamptonshire, Northumbria and West Midlands had deteriorated at investigating crime.

FORCES DETERIORATING Cutting crime - 0 Investigating crime - 6 Promoting safety - 0 Providing help - 1 Local policing - 1 Resource use - 0 Citizen focus - 6 Crisis-hit force under fire

Humberside and Northamptonshire were poor at cutting crime.

The Metropolitan Police, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire were poor at promoting safety, which includes dealing with anti-social behaviour and road traffic safety.

Cheshire, Humberside and South Yorkshire were poor at providing help, which includes frontline and motorway policing.

Cambridgeshire, Humberside, Metropolitan Police, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, Thames Valley and West Yorkshire had poor citizen focus, which includes community confidence in the police.

Cambridgeshire and Nottinghamshire were poor at resource use.

Bedfordshire, Humberside, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire were poor at local policing.

FORCES IMPROVING Cutting crime - 30 Investigating crime - 24 Promoting safety - 21 Providing help - 15 Local policing - 21 Resource use - 37 Citizen focus - 21

The top performing force, West Mercia, was excellent at investigating crime and resource use and good in all other categories.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears called the figures "very encouraging".

"Over the last three years we have seen real and sustainable improvements in police performance."

"Crime and the fear of crime are both down and the number of offences brought to justice has gone up.

"The reports also identify areas for improvement, in particular in terms of how the service engages and responds to community concerns.

"We are driving up improvements across the service by implementing national minimum standards of service for all aspects of contact with the police, including how they handle calls and feed back to victims witnesses, and providing better support, proper feedback, information and advice to victims of crime and their families.

It is clear there is no room for complacency Sir Ronnie Flanagan HM Inspector of Constabulary

"We are also committed to... providing dedicated, visible, and local police teams which are able to respond to communities' specific needs."

HM Inspector of Constabulary Sir Ronnie Flanagan said: "It is clear there is no room for complacency.

"While the service can be proud of the progress made during the past year many challenges lie ahead, in some cases at individual force level and in others at a service wide and structural level.

"The reports also, for example, highlight a need for improvement in the way that calls from the public are dealt with and if the police service addresses the issues of race and diversity."