NOTTS Police is the worst performing force of its kind, according to new statistics.

Police chiefs have judged themselves against seven other similar forces – Staffordshire, South Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, Leicestershire, South Wales and Lancashire.

Notts Police fared worst in burglaries, robberies, assaults and gun crime, and the number of crimes per head of population.

But a top officer has stressed Notts Police is improving and "bridging the gap" between itself and the seven other forces.

The latest figures were revealed during a meeting of Notts Police Authority's performance committee.

Notts Police decided to look at official Home Office figures, and compare their performance with that of similar forces, as categorised by the Government.

Speaking at the meeting, Assistant Chief Constable Peter Davies highlighted the force's recent successes.

He said these included a conviction for the murder of Keyworth schoolgirl Colette Aram in 1983 and the policing of an English Defence League rally in the city centre in December.

"This is a force that delivers successfully on crimes that matter to the public," he said.

"That includes the murder of Colette Aram, in securing a conviction 26 years after the offence was committed.

"We also handled December's complex, politically difficult demonstrations extremely well, and our record in major crime and homicide is exceptional.

"There remains a gap that we must bridge with our similar forces, and, in my view, we are bridging it. There are 12,000 fewer people that were victims of crime in the year to date."

At a recent performance committee meeting Assistant Chief Constable Peter Moyes said it would take up to 18 months to see improvements.

"We are tackling inadequacies in our crime investigation standards," he said.

"That involves any initial training, the movement of staff from one unit to another and the initial response to crimes.

"We are looking at between nine and 18 months of work to bring all these initiatives into some sort of conclusion."

Other plans to boost force performance include putting 84 additional police officers in high-crime areas of north Notts, and the ongoing Operation Resolve, which involves 20 officers working through 4,000 undetected cases from the past two years.

Another scheme, called Policing for You with 20/20 Vision has 70 specialist police officers, such as homicide detectives, helping colleagues to tackle burglaries, robberies and vehicle crime. It aims to cut burglary and robbery by 20%.