HER Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary tables have just been published.

The only real surprise is that North Yorkshire police didn't finish at the bottom, but close enough at 38 out of 43.

This comes as no surprise to me having had dealings with the police myself and I know of other people who have reported crimes and have been told by the police, "there's nothing we can do", "you didn't see that really" or "it's not that bad."

Last year Harrogate got 31 more officers with another five community support officers. This year where are these officers? No one ever sees them.

All we see is an 85 per cent rise in the police precept. I should, however, give North Yorkshire police top marks for pathetic excuses.

K Chapman,

South Drive,

Harrogate.

Updated: 10:04 Tuesday, June 29, 2004