TWO of the region’s police forces were yesterday named among 18 in the country accused of under-reporting levels of serious violent crime.

But senior officers at Cleveland and North Yorkshire Police angrily dismissed the claims, and said they were confident their forces had acted appropriately.

The 18 forces were named in an investigation by the BBC.

They had been asked by the Government to reassess their recorded figures for violent crimes, including wounding and grievous bodily harm.

Defending Cleveland Police, Assistant Chief Constable Sean White maintained that it had been overly cautious when recording serious crime. He said: “The Home Office asked a number of forces last year to look at their number of recorded wounding and grievous bodily harm incidents.

There was concern about them perhaps being incorrect and we responded by October 13.

“We have looked at our figures and we are confident we have been recording them in the highest possible category, while some other forces have been recording them in lower categories. We feel very let down by the Home Office and I have written to them to get them to correct the situation.

“There were 77 offences recorded as the most serious offence of wounding during the period of April 1 to June 30 last year. Following the review, 54 of those were downgraded to grievous bodily harm instead.

“We are confident that we are recording the offences in the best possible way.”

Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs, of North Yorkshire Police, said he was confident that the force had acted appropriately.

He said: “The clarification on serious violent crime by the Home Office in October last year was very much welcomed as it provided a more realistic assessment on the impact of this offence.

“It is important to understand that this issue is about categorisation, not underreporting.

“Those crimes which now fall into the most serious category were still previously recorded and investigated by police, with offenders brought to justice. North Yorkshire and the City of York is one of the safest places to live in the country and I am happy to report that violent crime continues to fall.”