The initiative grades all 43 forces across England and Wales in four categories and will publish the results online.

Roger Baker, Her Majesty's Inspector for North Yorkshire, said North Yorkshire Police had performed well when compared with similar-sized forces and levels of robbery, vehicle crime and criminal damage remained low.

He said: "While robbery has remained stable, vehicle crime and criminal damage have continued to fall over the past three years."

The assessment also showed:

The number of robbery and vehicle crimes which were solved had increased

The number of burglaries solved remained stable.

And while the force's detection rate for domestic burglary was currently below the peer average there were plans in place for improvement.

Mr Baker said: "In 2008, the force was judged to be below the standard of peer forces in its knowledge and skills for major crime investigations.

"However, a recent inspection found the investment and impro-vements have raised standards to an acceptable level. North Yorkshire spends slightly more per head on staff than similar forces."

The four areas of assessment carried out by Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) were: local crime and policing, protection from serious harm, confidence and Satisfac-tion and value for money.

North Yorkshire Police was given a fair rating for the first three areas – value for money remains ungraded nationally.

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said that, while the report card looked positive, he realised there was still work to be done in some areas and it was important for people to be aware of what was being done to tackle issues which were important to them.

"We are continually looking at ways in which we can improve the service we give to you; whether that is through organisational reviews or the ways in which we are able to feedback to you as a victim, witness or member of the community," he said.

He added that the area was one of the safest in the country and that was due to the hard work of his officers, staff and other agencies working to tackle crime.

"The report card gives a balanced view of what we have already achieved and highlights improvements made in certain areas. One area we have imp-roved greatly on is that of investigating major crime," he said.

Cllr Jane Kenyon, the police authority chairman, said: "This report is consistent with information presented to us throughout this last year, and the authority members have sought to challenge the Chief Constable and his team in improving the service, particularly around the Poli-cing Pledge and confidence measures."