Police in Oxfordshire are to ditch the process of filling in time-consuming forms to try to spend more time tackling knife crime.

A pilot scheme will see people handed a "feedback card" instead of a form after they have been stopped by police in the street.

Officers think it could cut the amount of time they spend dealing with a suspect during a simple 'stop and account' from 20 minutes to two minutes.

In these procedures, police can ask individuals what they are doing on the street. They are different to 'stop and search', where a suspect is held and searched. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's idea will be introduced in Oxfordshire by the end of October.

Police said last night that they would need to read the Government scheme in detail before they could comment on specifics.

But Deputy Chief Constable Francis Habgood said: "Anything that contributes to reducing the burden on front-line officers and allows them to focus on policing issues is to be welcomed.

"I have been watching developments in the four forces currently involved in the crime recording pilot with interest and am pleased to have the opportunity to join a project which should benefit both officers and the public."

The scheme will replace the old stop and account forms, with officers reading out information on location and ethnicity over police radios.

It is already being used in four police forces and will be expanded to six more, including Thames Valley Police, at the end of October.

Last month, the Oxford Mail revealed that 17 out of 20 people caught in possession of a knife in Oxford between June and August were charged.

Between April and June, only half of those caught with a knife received criminal convictions.

The Home Secretary said: "I am determined to support police officers so they spend more time saving lives on our streets.

"Giving police the means to dramatically reduce form-filling bureaucracy will free up valuable time to further clamp down on knife crime."

A Tackling Knives Action Programme pilot in Staffordshire has revealed 80 per cent of stop and account spot checks were reduced to just two minutes from 20 minutes in the time taken to fill out the forms.

The forms were originally brought in to combat allegations of racism amid claims police stopped more black and Asian people than white suspects.