ESSEX Police records nine out of ten crimes correctly making it one of the best in the country.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary looked at all 43 forces.

Essex Police came sixth with the force praised for its victim led approach.

Deputy Chief Constable Derek Benson said: "This is good news for the people of Essex as they can trust the integrity of our crime recording.

“We know there is no room for complacency and we will continue to work towards improving this even further."

Nationally it is estimated about one in five crimes reported to police are not recorded by officers.

About a third of violent crimes are not recorded and about a quarter of sex offences.

HMIC called the failures “indefensible” with Home Secretary Theresa May describing them as “utterly unacceptable”.

Workload and a target based culture were blamed.

When crimes are not recorded they are not investigated, with victims of rape and serious violence among those let down.

Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston said: “The integrity of the Essex Police process for recording crime is significantly higher than the national average, and I expect it to stay there and hopefully improve still further.

“HMIC is rightly concerned about the accurate recording of serious crimes such as rape.

“We will continue to focus on reducing crime with the confidence the crime figures are broadly reliable."