ANGLERS in North Yorkshire and Cleveland had the lowest prosecution rate in the region for licence dodging last year.

They also held on to their good record by scoring the lowest number of prosecutions in the region for March.

A total of 61 people were prosecuted in the two areas by the Environment Agency for rod licence offences in 2004-5.

This was compared to 117 in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham and 325 in South, West and East Yorkshire. The offenders were fined a total of £23,483.

Area fisheries and recreation team leader, John Shannon, said: "Our anglers should be congratulated on their fantastic record. The message is obviously getting through that it is important to buy a rod licence, and we will hopefully see further success.

"The last thing we want to do is prosecute people but potential offenders should be warned that if they are caught without a licence, then they will find themselves before the court.

"Money from rod licences is ploughed back into providing better angling opportunities in the region. By failing to pay the fee, it means that offenders are actually stealing from their community."

Environment Agency figures show that in 2004-5, a total of 503 rod licence prosecutions were made by the courts in the region but the number of new case files received by the agency legal team fell from 31 in February to just nine in March.

The prosecution results for rod licence offences in March 2005 are: South, West and East Yorkshire, 13 prosecutions compared with 30 in February; Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham, six prosecutions compared with three in February; North Yorkshire and Teesside, one prosecution compared with six in February.