Police forces are to be graded from "excellent" to "poor" by the Home Office.

The grades will be based on assessments covering the full range of police work, and if the force fails to improve or the performance is particularly bad, the Home Office will send in "hit squads" to advise chief constables.

Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair, has told the Telegraph that tens of thousands of additional patrol officers must be placed permanently in local neighbourhoods if a surge in privately-policed "gated communities" and vigilantism is to be avoided.