Greater Manchester Police has been branded the second WORST force in the country in new national rankings.

The force was one of only three out of 43 to be graded ‘poor’ for tackling local crime – the lowest possible mark.

It got the same mark for ‘confidence and satisfaction’ in the rankings, drawn up by official police watchdog Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Only Nottinghamshire was ranked lower than GMP.

But Chief Constable Peter Fahy insisted the ranking was based on out-of-date information and the force had since shown real signs of improvement.

In a summary, HMIC said GMP was ‘causing concern’ and ‘struggled in some key areas’.

But it added that the force had a ‘plan and a clear commitment to improve’ and rated it ‘good’ for ‘protection from serious harm’.

The ratings have been collated from information taken up to the end of September last year.

GMP bosses point out that in December they began a self-imposed 90-day improvement plan after being on the government’s radar for five years as a force needing to up its performance.

Mr Fahy told the M.E.N: “Essentially the report says we are good at dealing with serious crime, but we need to get better with day-to-day volume crime and public confidence.

“It does not show improvements we have made in recent months and is therefore an historic document.

“We have made a big improvement in reducing crime and getting more offenders off the streets, and seen significant improvements in public confidence which is in line to meet government targets for 2012.

“It is difficult to make comparisons when you have such complex policing, ranging from lost property, to counter-terrorism and there are huge variations between what forces do and their size.

“We sometimes feel we are under constant criticism and there is a risk that you can get defensive about it, but my officers have a strong work ethic. We are determined to improve, but there’s lots of things we can be proud of.”

Figures for April 2009 to February 2010 showed GMP had reduced crime by 13 per cent compared to 12 months before, and the latest data shows public confidence now stands at 75pc.

Paul Murphy, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Authority, said: “It’s reassuring for the authority to see that the report card highlights issues which have already been identified and are being addressed.

“We will continue to robustly scrutinise the force to ensure this work continues and is effective.”

The HMIC website, which will launch publicly on Saturday, aims to give the most comprehensive overview ever of police performance.

It will tell people what risk they face of being shot, stabbed, sexually attacked, burgled or
violently assaulted.

The site also enables taxpayers to examine how much they pay for policing.

Denis O’Connor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said the website will be ‘an uncomfortable read for some’ but ‘there is much to celebrate’.

At the other end of the scale, Lancashire ranked joint first and its Chief Constable Steve Finnigan said it is in the public interest to show the complexity of policing.

He said: “Ensuring that the public we serve understand what we do and why we do it is crucial for the police service.

“The information set out by HMIC attempts to show the breadth of activity that the police service is inspected and assessed against, across thousands of daily interactions between the police and the public.

“The nature of that demand can vary from providing a visible and responsive presence, to other activities that often place police officers in danger.

“Whatever it may be, the police service is determined to focus relentlessly on where we can improve.”

Irene Curtis, of the Police Superintendents’ Association, welcomed the decision to include information that goes beyond traditional performance figures.

She said: “It is important, however, to ensure that the information provided on the website is as up to date as possible and includes contextual detail that helps the public to understand the complexity of policing and the difficulty of comparing policing areas.”