YOUR editorial article rightly praises the police over the welcome news that the British Crime Survey has shown a ten per cent fall in crime since 1997 (October 17).

However, this statistic conceals some wider problems. It now seems inevitable that there will be fewer police at the next election than there were in 1997.

Government figures show that the number of police nationwide has fallen by more than 2,700, despite Labour's promises. This comes on top of a sharp fall under the previous Tory government.

Your leader suggests that in addition to reducing actual crime, we face a challenge in reducing fear of crime. Cuts in police numbers hit hardest in rural areas such as the Vale of York, where levels of cover and response times are seriously affected.

The best way to tackle this is to provide additional funding for the police to recruit extra officers.

Having visible police on the beat both deters crime and improves public confidence.

That's why the Liberal Democrats have consistently called for 6,000 extra police officers to be employed to crack crime, instead of more Labour and Tory cutbacks.

Greg Stone,

Parliamentary Spokesman,

Vale of York Liberal Democrats,

Herriot Way,

Thirsk.