Croydon Borough Commander Mark Gore this week hit back at criticisms made in a damning Government inspection report.

Chief Superintendent Gore said "enormous strides" had been taken by his senior management team to tackle the list of shortcomings highlighted in the report into an inspection in March.

Last week the Croydon Guardian revealed how inspectors from Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Constabulary (HMIC) criticised Croydon Police's senior management team for being "fractured, disunited and potentially inefficient".

Mr Gore said a recent follow-up inspection praised the steps taken to improve leadership at Croydon Police and a new report is expected to be published highlighting this.

Chief Supt Gore told the Croydon Guardian this week: "A number of changes have taken place in Croydon. We are actively delivering results and that's what people can expect to see.

"In a way I would have preferred it if this report had been published in March, closer to the time of the inspection. For it to be published now when so many changes have taken place is not reflective of the work we're doing.

"A tremendous amount of work was going on at that time. We have actively taken this borough and moved it forward, working very closely with the community to make Croydon safer."

Primary investigations were described as "poor" in the report but Chief Supt Gore revealed an improvement in detection rates - from 17 per cent to 40 per cent - and an increase in crime reduction rates from two per cent to eight per cent.

He also said that the number of outstanding warrants relating to serious crimes had dropped from 25 to nine, although he admitted there were still 190 outstanding warrants for other less serious offences.

Chief Supt Gore added: "There has been a real, clear improvement. They now say we have a senior management team which has clear direction."

HMIC inspectors are expected to return in May next year for a further follow-up inspection.