TEESSIDE has been voted one of the safest places in Britain - according to the latest police results from the Audit Commission.

Performance indicators published by the Audit Commission comparing police forces in England and Wales, show traffic accidents involving death or personal injury in the Cleveland Police area is the second lowest in the country.

The police say the results show that Cleveland has one of the lowest incidents of violent crime.

The way officers respond to people who were subjected to attacks has also earned Cleveland a top rating from the victims. The force is also in the top six forces in the deployment league for having officers available for duty - despite a perceived perception that foot and mobile patrols are low.

But the Commission report did highlight that the force has low detection rates, particularly for burglary cases.

Assistant Chief Constable Bryan Bell said it should be noted that while crime nationally had risen by 3.8 per cent, in Cleveland it had fallen by 2.8 per cent.

He said the force policy of concentrating on preventing crime has seen burglaries tumble by 13 per cent, which is double the national average.

Thefts of motor cars are down by 6.5 per cent compared with the national average of four per cent, while thefts from motor vehicles are down by ten per cent, which is five times the national average.

Mr Bell said: "The workload of Cleveland Police continues to increase with 11,000 extra incidents alone this year and the Audit Commission report reflects the good work that continues to be done by the force. However, we are never complacent and we will continue to strive to improve our performance in the future."