Force one of 'worst-performing'

The unofficial league table was based on Home Office figures

Wiltshire is one of the worst-performing police forces in England and Wales, an unofficial league table has suggested.

Bedfordshire came bottom of the 2006-2007 Home Office ratings, with Surrey and Lancashire joint top.

The Wiltshire force scored one grade of good for its work tackling crime, and six fair grades in all other areas. It scored no excellent grades.

The force said it was meeting and exceeding national threshold standards.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Marsh said "The public, the media and of course government are right to ask the police what they are doing and how they are doing it.

"External and completely independent inspections provide us with an opportunity to tell the public how things are going, and to demonstrate what we are trying to do on their behalf and with their money.

"The present position is a good news story for Wiltshire which remains not just a beautiful county but one of the very safest places in which to live and work, with a police service that continues to improve and, in a number of areas is viewed as being at the cutting edge of modern policing."