OXFORD's top police boss said being the city's chief will "probably be the best job I'll have in my career" as he bids farewell today.

Supt Christian Bunt serves his final day as Local Policing Area Commander before he moves onto become a detective at Thames Valley Police's headquarters in Kidlington.

The Oxford born and bred officer said he was sad to be leaving St Aldate's Police Station after nearly four years in charge, but thanked his staff and the public for their support in what he called his dream job.

Handed the reins in January 2013, Supt said over his time as LPA commander policing had changed and crimes had become more complex.

In an exclusive interview with the Oxford Mail Supt Bunt said: "It's been a real honour to be in charge of policing for the city I grew up and still live in.

"To be able to directly influence people's lives in the city, which you can do as an LPA commander, and have an direct impact is a great thing.

"I have really enjoy my work, particularly the strategic partnership work, which has allowed me to influence how the city is going to look in the future."

The boyhoood Oxford United fan began his career in the force as a response officer in 2000 in Hampshire, covering Farnborough and Aldershot, before transferring to Thames Valley Police in November 2002.

Working his way through the ranks, in 2003 he returned to home turf to become a sergeant for Oxford, serving in various roles including patrol, custody and neighbourhood policing.

In October 2010, he became LPA Commander for Wokingham.

Supt Bunt is a handy footballer, having been picked to play for Oxford United’s School of Excellence as a youngster, but he didn’t quite make the grade and left aged 16.

He recalled the time as a child when he told his late nan about wanting to be the chief of Oxford.

He added: "This is my dream job. I got offered this and I had worked in various roles before then in the Thames Valley, but I always wanted to come back home.

"I think Oxford is the flagship police area for Thames Valley Police. It's a world iconic city and it's been a great honour looking after and making communities safer.

"Oxford is known by everyone in the world and the greatest thing about it is that it is such a diverse area, there is a bit of everything.

"We have some really challenging areas of poor deprivation, but you also get the affluent areas. A lot of the city is owned by the university, it has one of the biggest nighttime economies in the country and about 9.5million visitors every year."

The police chief said there would a be few things he would remember from his time in charge - including the Operation Bullfinch trial into child sex exploitation, which started on his first day.

He said: "You deal with so much stuff that it is tough to remember what you've worked on - but I will always remember the work done around CSE and I'm very proud of that.

"We still have investigations ongoing, we are still looking at historic reports in the city.

"I chaired a CSE sub group for the safeguarding board. I am really pleased with the work being done but there is a still a lot to be done.

"I'm also proud of the work being done to tackle organised crime groups over the last four years."

Supt Bunt said the force had learned a lot from the Operation Bullfinch case in "spotting the signs" of child abuse.

He added he was pleased with the overall crime reduction, especially the decline in household burglary.

He said: "Policing has changed dramatically in the last four years, it's much more about protecting vulnerable people and communities from harm. It's about reaching out to vulnerable people being exploited by drug dealers and other criminals.

"Crime is becoming much more complex we have got a much greater safeguarding role now. Trying to work with providers and different agencies to protect victims with complex needs while doing what people expect the police which is to put people in prison.

"I have had some really nice emails from members of the public about my policing style and I have always been really clear with my staff our job is to prevent crime and protect victims, but at the same time doing what get paid to do with arrests and prosecutions.

"It's been amazing, it's been enjoyable, it will probably be the best job in my career."