HOME Secretary Jack Straw has praised police in Blackburn for cutting crime rates faster than the national average.

He said police got together with the council, community groups, businesses and others to show the way in tackling law and order problems.

And in a speech at the Town Hall last night he warned that Tory cuts would cost 60 officers if William Hague wins the next election.

In the address to his Blackburn constituency Labour Party, Mr Straw said: "It used to be said that rising crime was inevitable, that nothing could be done to stop it, and that more and more of us would become its victims.

"Yet a strange thing has happened over recent years -- crime has fallen. Since 1997 crime has come down by 10 per cent. Home burglaries are down by a quarter and car crime is at its lowest level for 10 years. It shows what can be achieved when the police get together with local councils and community groups, businesses and others, to tackle the problems head on.

"Its happened here in Blackburn where crime rates have come down even faster than the national average.

"But I don't want to hear anyone say that that's the job done. It most certainly isn't. Crime is still far, far too high. I see the emotional scars it leaves on people and the way it undermines the life of our communities.

"Here in Blackburn, as well as everywhere else." Mr Straw said the government was tackling causes of crime like drugs and unemployment and making clear that individuals had responsibility to society. But he continued: "Our first priority must be to invest in our police service.

"On Monday, therefore, I will be announcing a record rise in investment in policing -- 7.4 per cent in real terms for the next financial year.

"It will be targeted on boosting recruitment and ensuring that our officers have the best technology and equipment at their disposal to tackle crime."

Mr Straw said that Tory cuts in spending would cost thousands of police officers nationwide and 60 in Blackburn alone.

He said that Conservative policy on spending and law and order was one reason why the party did so badly in the Preston and West Bromwich by-elections.

But Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans said the Preston result was a "hollow victory" for Labour which would win back six Labour seats from the Tories if the nine per cent swing was repeated at a general election.