Oxford's police commander has taken charge of the whole of Oxfordshire as part of the biggest shake-up of the Thames Valley force for 36 years.

Chief Superintendent David McWhirter has the role of implementing Chief Constable Peter Neyroud's vision of a return to community policing, while retaining the force's ability to fight organised crime, revealed in the Oxford Mail earlier this month.

Under the shake-up, the county's three police areas - Oxford, Northern Oxfordshire and Southern Oxfordshire - will be merged into one larger area, with Mr McWhirter in overall charge.

Mr McWhirter said: "I'm delighted to get the job. Clearly, it's a very big job and a big challenge.

"The benefits to policing are that we can work on a broader basis than we have in the past.

"A number of offenders live in one town and commit crime in another."

Mr Neyroud wants a greater focus on traditional community policing and less on Government-set targets and statistics.

The idea is to allow police to form closer partnerships with county-wide organisations such as Oxfordshire's Drug and Alcohol Action Team, Social Services, the Youth Offending Team, the local education authority and the Oxfordshire branch of the probation service. Mr McWhirter said: "A number of our most prolific offenders are under the management of social services and the education system. They are county-wide organisations, with which we are looking to work more closely.

"There are economies of scale which should make us more flexible and able to respond to demands from all over the county."

However, to improve neighbourhood policing, the shake-up will also see more localised police sectors which correspond to the county's five district council areas. A senior police officer will be in charge of each area.

Mr Neyroud said this move recognised that all five districts had different local needs, and there would be a more prominent role for local police inspectors in charge of beat teams.

He said: "Each area will have a senior person, almost certainly a superintendent, who will be their local police coordinator. That's a big shift. At the moment, we've got areas that straddle two local authority areas.

"It will provide clarity as there will be one person clearly responsible for dealing with the local authority.

"People want local policing in their local area - combined with a cohesive and coherent approach to cross-border crime, such as distraction burglary, which is a significant concern."

Mike Simm, Oxfordshire County Council's head of community safety, welcomed the shake-up and said it could improve partnership working between police and local authorities.

But Brian Lester, chairman of Blackbird Leys Parish Council, said there was already good contact between the parish council and local officers on the estate.