OXFORD University's quadrangles and dreaming spires will soon echo to the sound of bobbies on the beat.

The university is paying half the cost of four new Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to work the beat on its private grounds and inside its ancient buildings.

It is the first time an arm of the police has been deployed to keep order at the university in its 900-year history.

Four community officers - costing the university £120,000 for the next two years - will wander freely around the courtyards, corridors and student accommodation when they start their beat next month.

They may even get their own police base at the university later in the year.

Oxford commander Supt Brendan O'Dowda said: "In recent years the university has seen greater expansion with more facilities and buildings being built and the PCSOs will provide a visible policing presence to students, staff and visitors."

The university will pay 50 per cent of the funding for the officers over two years with police paying for the rest.

They are due to begin their beat on Monday, April 14, and will initially use St Aldates Police Station.

PCSOs do not have the same powers of arrest as normal police officers.

But they can issue fixed penalty notices for disorder, detain a suspect for 30 minutes, dispose of alcohol, carry out road checks and seize illegal vehicles.

Their main role in Oxfordshire has been to increase visibility on the streets and collect information and intelligence on suspects and crime trends which are passed to police officers.

A university spokesman said: "The officers will have access to college and university grounds.

"The extra posts will help the university look after the safety and security of staff and students, and will support Thames Valley Police with their workload, including policing university events such as exams and high-profile visits.

"There are 25,000 members of the university. That does put an extra burden on police. There has not been a particular rise in any crime, but there are sometimes burglaries and general things that the population needs a police force for.

"We don't have a presence at the moment so it is probably a good idea."

The University of Oxford set up its own police force following an Act of Parliament passed in 1825.

The University Police, which is now disbanded, were more commonly known as the Bulldogs and drew members from university staff.

They had full police powers within four miles of any university building and worked alongside established police officers.

But they were completely separate similar to the role the British Transport Police currently holds.

The University Police ceased to exist in that form at the end of 2002 and became Proctors' Officers with responsibility for staff and student safety and discipline, but without full police powers.

Proctors' Officers still exist but the new Police Community Support Officers will be something entirely new - officers from the local force with a particular responsibility for University policing.