A CRIMEWATCH-style service is thriving across Worcestershire and Here-fordshire with one in five calls leading to arrests and thousands of pounds of loot recovered.

West Mercia Police's Crimestoppers was set up in 1994 so members of the public could phone in anonymously and pass on information about any crimes to officers.

Across the force area in the past six months there have been 753 'actioned' - or useful - calls, resulting in 226 arrests and charges.

Property worth £49,840 has been recovered and drugs worth £161,394 seized. In comparison, in the whole of 2004 there were 1,360 'actioned' calls and 298 arrests and charges. There was also £53,295 of property and £60,740 of drugs recovered.

West Mercia Crimestoppers co-ordinator Steve Hill said: "We are proud of the fact that we have maintained an excellent arrest to calls ratio of 1:5 and are termed most cost-effective.

"This is due to quality information given by callers when speaking with our personnel and proves that members of the public can do something about crime without getting involved."

In the 11 years since Crimestoppers was laun-ched in West Mercia, there have been a total of 13,761 'actioned' calls and 2,433 arrests and charges.

There is also more than £2m of items seized, three-quarters being property and the rest drugs.

Nationally, since the charity began in 1988, it has received more than 640,000 calls with useful information, leading to 57,000 arrests and the seizure of £150m of illegal items.

Anyone with information about crime can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, and may qualify for a cash reward.