Oxford police have linked up with The Terrence Higgins Trust to tackle homophobic hate crime in the city.

The trust has already formed a Homophobia Awareness Liaison team (HALT), which consists of representatives from Oxford's gay, lesbian and bisexual community. They meet regularly to discuss policing issues and work to prevent homophobic crime.

Now this will be complemented by a monthly surgery held by plain clothes officers to encourage victims of homophobic crime to come forward.

Pc Derrice Alleyne, Oxford's community and race relations officer, and Insp Robin Rickard, head of community and race relations in the city, attended a meeting of the trust to explain how police help the fight against homophobia and how they can support victims.

Incidents of reported homophobic hate crime in Oxford have risen from none three years ago to 23 in the last year.

Insp Rickard, who is based at Cowley, said: "Surprisingly, this is encouraging as it demonstrates the increasing trust between the gay and lesbian community of Oxford and the police."

The monthly surgery starts on Thursday, June 21. It will be held at Northgate Hall in Cowley between 10.30am and noon.