Two operations to "mend Didcot" will target drunken yobs and vandals as part of a drive to reduce antisocial behaviour in the town.

Police launched a three-month programme called Operation Mend Didcot - or Mendidcot - on Tuesday to tackle vandals who damage cars, homes and public places.

And under a new Nightsafe scheme, pub and club owners will be taught how to deal with troublesome punters to make Didcot safer after dark.

The operation is in response to figures showing vandalism accounts for a quarter of all reported crime in the town - but police admit no extra manpower will be available.

Last year there were 10,094 reports of criminal damage across Oxfordshire, mostly due to drink-related crimes carried out by youths aged between 18 and 24.

The Operation Mend campaign will involve special attention from police and community support officers to vandalism hotspots.

Didcot crime reduction officer Alison Smith said: "It is important that we educate young people so they understand the consequences of causing criminal damage can be much more than financial."

However, county councillor Bill Service, who represents Ladygrove, questioned the powers of police community support officers.

He said: "PCSOs are of value to the community, but they have no more powers of arrest than I do."

Police officers will visit schools in the Didcot area during the campaign to tell children about the consequences of vandalism.

But Didcot youth worker Paul Gander, who led young people from Ladygrove on volunteer graffiti clean-ups this year, said youngsters were unfairly associated with antisocial behaviour.

He said: "There can be other culprits causing damage, like people coming home from the pub."

Last week, Oxfordshire Chief Supt Shaun Morley named Didcot's Broadway as the street where most of the town's late-night antisocial behaviour takes place.

The new Nightsafe initiative could be tackling alcohol-related disorder in the town by the end of the summer, with the help of a £100,000 grant from the South Oxfordshire Community Safety Partnership.

Community safety chairman Roger Cowdrey said: "While Didcot is a safe place to live, there is more we can do to address residents' concerns about intimidating and antisocial behaviour by people spilling out of the bars late at night."

Criminal behaviour can be reported to police on 08458 505 505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.