BURY'S efforts to reduce crime and the fear of it have been praised by independent inspectors.

The borough's community safety service has scored two stars (on a scale of zero to three) from the Audit Commission, an official "good" rating.

The Commission said the council's security and emergency services, plus CCTV, provided effective "second tier" policing.

The community safety wardens were high profile and have improved the environment and overall appearance of the borough.

Inspectors also said that co-ordination between groups such as the Drug Action Team was good, as were relationships with the Youth Offending Team, police, and area board co-ordinators.

However, they said that there were no systems to monitor the impact of community safety initiatives on crime and the fear of crime. They also noted that some crimes, such as violent crime, had increased and that the overall level of crime was still above the national average.

They recommended that the council appoint "community safety champions" among members and officers, improve partnership working, and raise awareness of the Community Safety Partnership.

Mr Brian Stevenson, commissioning inspector, said: "There have been some good initiatives to tackle crime in Bury, and councillors and officers are committed to delivering improvements.

"The council now needs to concentrate on developing clear and measurable targets which reflect key community concerns about crime and safety related issues. The aim must be to match the standards of the best performing councils."