THE Liberal Democrat Party has backed calls made by the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran, to axe Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC).

Ms Moran labelled the role as a 'failed experiment', claiming the public 'do not who they are or what they do'.

Elected PCCs are charged with securing efficient and effective policing across their force area, serving terms of four years.

The PCC for Thames Valley, Anthony Stansfeld, has been in the role since it was introduced in 2012.

However, speaking at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Brighton, where the plans were adopted by the party, Ms Moran said she had had 'overwhelming support' from residents after launching a campaign to see the role scrapped earlier this year.

Ms Moran said: “I’m sure Anthony Stansfield will hit out, tell us what a marvellous job he is doing, take this as a personal attack on him and try to argue that I only want to scrap the role because he thinks I don’t fully understand it.

"Well, it is nothing personal – I want all of his fellow Commissioners up and down the country to be scrapped as well as him.

"I am well aware of the role of Police & Crime Commissioners – I just happen to agree with the public that they are a failed experiment and must be axed.”

The Conservative PCC for the Thames Valley earns £85,000 a year with the chief executive and deputy chief executive paid £186,000 between them

The Liberal Democrat Party has said it would instead introduce a panel comprising of local councillors from across the police force area to raise local policing priorities with police chiefs, while reinvesting the money saved on elections and PCC salaries 'back into the police'.