North Yorkshire's Chief Constable has paid tribute to the role his staff played last year not only in cutting crime, but also in dealing with natural disasters and human tragedies.

In his annual review David Kenworthy highlighted the work of the "excellent detective work" done in the wake of North Yorkshire's first armed art robbery which recovered the stolen paintings and returned them to York.

And he also praised the way officers dealt with the flooding which drove people from their homes and businesses in Malton, Norton, and other communities earlier this year and the tragic deaths of the honeymoon couple swept into the River Wharfe. "All these incidents put a considerable strain on officers and support staff and each resulted in a fine job resulting in thanks and congratulations from the public," said Mr Kenworthy.

"The cornerstone of this force's policing remains a close relationship with the communities we serve.

"Local area policing is still the basis of service delivery and has been strengthened by reducing layers of management.

"Responsibility and authority are devolved to local area policing commanders be they sergeants, inspectors or chief inspectors." Mr Kenworthy admitted that additional pressure had been put on staff through the radical restructuring of the force, which reduced its seven divisions to three in order to improve efficiency and save money.

He thanked staff for their 'support and forbearance' during a year of upheavals brought about through the controversial boundary and structure review.

But he said the force had continued to perform well and the crime rate had continued to fall.

"Change is unsettling and many members of staff have suffered uncertainty over their jobs and their future," said Mr Kenworthy.

"I have tried to involve staff in the changes and sought their views throughout as a means of lessening anxieties and, I hope, increasing the understanding of why we need to change.

"Despite these additional stresses and demands high standards of performance have been maintained.

"I look on the bald statistics (on burglaries) as representing 251 fewer families who have undergone the trauma of having their home violated.

"I see the drop in autocrime as 843 fewer people left stranded because their car has been stolen and I regard the drop in woundings as 698 individuals who have been spared fear and pain."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.