A NEW police local police area (LPA) commander has been appointed for Cherwell and West Oxfordshire.

Former West Oxfordshire inspector, now superintendent, Mark Johns has 22 years’ service in the police and transferred to the Thames Valley force in 2006, serving as a neighbourhood inspector, then in CID.

He said: “It’s been said before, but the strength of the police is reflected in the strength of its communities and to that end, I am keen to build on the strong neighbourhood policing model that has served our area so well.”