Crime: Oxford City

Oxford police area, which covers the area within the city ring road, scores well compared with other areas in Thames Valley on car crime and burglaries, with just 11.2 thefts of motor vehicles per 1,000 population and 25.4 thefts from vehicles per 1,000. Just 15.1 people per 1,000 were burglary victims in the same period.

Oxford area commander Supt David McWhirter said: "In many ways, the figures are quite encouraging. They show that Oxford, by and large, is a fairly safe place to live. "And for the first three months of this year, from April 1 to the end of June, crime in Oxford has gone down by 15 per cent, burglaries are down by 21 per cent and autocrime is down by over 30 per cent."

He put the successes down to the crime and disorder reduction partnership with the city council and other agencies, which has seen crime targeted in a number of ways, including more security staff at theft-hit car parks across the city and anti-burglary initiatives, particularly in east Oxford.

There are also plans to increase CCTV in the city, with cameras planned for Worcester Street car park soon. Supt McWhirter said future initiatives would continue to target burglary, which he described as an "awful crime", and car crime. The public was continually being asked to help the police, both by taking sensible precautions such as locking doors and windows at night and by being pro-active on crime by joining Neighbourhood Watch groups.