A review into Essex Police by independent inspectors has rated the force as good in five of the six areas.

The first PEEL (police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy) report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found good standards during a number of inspections across the year.

The one area which requires improvement is the way it investigates crimes, but otherwise the force was deemed to be efficient and effective with good leadership.

Its continuing focus on domestic abuse, a previous weakness, was praised by HMIC.

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, said: “I am pleased the HMIC report recognises how hard officers and staff have worked in order to reduce and prevent offending and tackle anti-social behaviour. We have also taken significant steps to deal with victims of crime who are particularly vulnerable.

“Against a backdrop of the financial challenge of being the second lowest cost per head of population in the country these results are extremely good.

“There is always more to be done and in a confident force like ours every person has the ambition to get even better at delivering.

“We recognise the need to improve the quality of our investigations and like many other forces across the country, need to encourage more officers to work and train as detectives in order to help achieve this.”

Mr Kavanagh added a training programme was now in place.

Nick Alston, Essex Police and Crime Commissioner, said he was pleased with the findings.