A SERIES of high-profile investigations have dented public satisfaction with a North-East police force.

A report into the performance of Cleveland Police has found the public are unhappy with the force's response to 999 calls and the number of bobbies on the beat.

The survey concluded that the impact of several investigations, such as the long-running Operation Lancet inquiry, may be to blame for an alarming fall in public satisfaction with the force's performance.

The force achieved a 76 per cent satisfaction rate for its actions following 999 calls - ten per cent less than its target.

The performance review, which will be presented to the Police Authority Performance Panel tomorrow, also identified people's dissatisfaction with the level of police presence as an area of serious concern.

It showed that 90 per cent of those questioned consider regular police patrols important or very important, and a majority were prepared to pay more in Council Tax to fund them.

The review stated: "Unless officers were to work continuous unsociable hours, the likelihood is that there will always be an imbalance between the resource and demand, and this can lead to frustration on the part of the public at peak times.

"Overall satisfaction with Cleveland Police has fallen alarmingly since 1996, and whilst the public perception may have been influenced by a number of high-profile internal investigations, this is an issue the force cannot ignore."

The review congratulated Cleveland Police for developing 12 community bases.

An action plan based on the review's recommendations is to be developed