CYBER crime and fraud are two areas Anthony Stansfeld has vowed to tackle if re-elected as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley.

The Conservative party candidate, who was the first ever PCC to be elected for the region in 2012, said combating the threat of terrorism in parts of the region was also on his pledge list.

But the 70-year-old said he could not afford to "let up" on his three previous priorities of protecting vulnerable people, reducing domestic burglary and tackling rural crime.

Mr Stansfeld said reducing household burglaries was one of his greatest achievements during his term of office and along with setting up a multi-agency safeguarding hub with Oxfordshire County Council, which seeks to enable the sharing of information so that risks to children can be identified at an early stage.

He added he believed funding cuts would come to an end next year, making life "easier" for the force.

He also said he hoped the region would get a fairer deal from the government when it came to funding.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail Mr Stansfeld said: "I'm very concerned about cyber crime and fraud.

"It not only needs tackling at a local level, but nationally as well.

"I'm concerned about the threat of terrorism, not so much in Oxford but in some areas across the Thames Valley.

"I think we cannot afford to let up on my three previous priorities but I am concerned about cyber crime, there's an awareness issue.

"You cannot expect a police officer, unless trained over years, to be an expert in cyber crime.

"My view is to have a specialist agency to deal with it within the police force."

Mr Stansfeld said being a PCC was "everything he expected it to be" and added that despite the cuts the force had improved its performance.

He added that the low profile of PCCs in the country could be compared to the profile of local councillors, saying some only were noticed by the public if they had done "something stupid or made a mistake".

Mr Stansfeld said: "It's my job to stand up for the people of Thames Valley and I'm happy to do that, like I did over the funding cuts and funding formula.

"I have regular meetings with the Chief Constable where I hold him to account."

Mr Stansfeld added that if elected he would look to post some staff in the larger towns in the Thames Valley, such as Oxford, to help him gather information from the public.

He said: "My office is the lowest costing in the country and I think this particularly thing is not going to be expensive - the people would feed back more information."

Born in Newbury, Berkshire has been home all his life.

Mr Stansfeld enlisted in the Army at 17 and joined the Royal Green Jackets where he saw active service in Borneo and Northern Ireland.

While in the Army he spent four months carrying out reconnaissance for the crossing of the Darien Gap in Panama and Columbia, and led the first stage of Operation Raleigh which involved taking young people through the jungles of Honduras and Belize.

Mr Stansfeld learned to fly helicopters at Middle Wallop and commanded various Army Air Corps Squadrons, including Army helicopters in the Falkland Islands in the latter half of 1982.

The military man then spent two years as Chief of Staff Intelligence in the Far East before leaving the Army and becoming managing director of the aircraft company Pilatus Britten Norman.

He also has an MSc and studied international terrorism and global security at university.

He is now a West Berkshire councillor, and was a member of the Thames Valley Police Authority for several years.

Mr Stansfeld is one of four candidates hoping to win the election on Thursday, May 5.

His competition includes Labour candidate Laetisia Carter, John Howson representing the Liberal Democrats and Lea Trainer running for the UK Independence Party.

Mr Stansfeld said: "We have serious issues in the larger towns where young Muslims have gone to Syria and some have come back.

"Thame Valley is the counter-terrorism unit for the south and we work closely with security services to keep people safe.

"It is a very diverse area, which is one of the complications with Thames Valley - there are areas of low crime and areas of high crime."