CCTV cameras will be on the move across Oxfordshire in a bid to improve community safety.

Thames Valley Police, in partnership with councils, has been given funding from the Government Office for the South East for two mobile CCTV vans to help fight crime and antisocial behaviour.

The cameras will provide CCTV in areas that are not already covered by fixed cameras, and will help stop graffiti and vandalism.

Crime hotspots, where there is a concentration of crime like car theft and robbery, will also be targeted by the vans.

The two vans will also be used in rural and urban areas and at special events like pop festivals.

Each van is equipped with a CCTV camera on a six-metre hydraulic mast. The vans have four further cameras which can be attached to lamp-posts or buildings to beam images back to the van.

Dc Dave White, leading the initiative, said: "This is very much a community-based project and these CCTV units will be an excellent tool to help solve real community problems.

"These are not meant to be covert cameras. These are liveried, well-marked police vehicles with 'CCTV in Operation' on the side."

The cameras will move around Thames Valley in response to bids from different police areas for their use.

Julian Lomas, Government Office for the South East director for Thames Valley, said: "It's great to see GOSE funding being put to use in such an effective way."

He added: "I firmly believe that mobile CCTV vans are an important tool in the continued fight against crime."