Cannabis smokers in Oxfordshire are being warned they face a tougher crackdown from police.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced today that cannabis would be reclassified from a class C drug to class B, subject to Parliamentary approval.

County police chiefs will now review how their officers tackle cannabis users ahead of the reclassification being approved.

Currently, a user in Oxfordshire can be caught with a small amount of cannabis deemed for personal use three times before they receive a criminal conviction.

Earlier this year Oxfordshire drugs co-ordinator Pc Leigh Thompson told the Oxford Mail he wanted cannabis reclassified.

He said: "The type of skunk cannabis on the street is now so strong it needs to be reclassified - and I fully support the Home Secretary. Our policies for tackling people with cannabis will now change, although we have always targeted any form of drug dealing, whether class A, B or C."

Possession of a class B drug can lead to a five-year jail sentence, compared to just two years for a class C drug.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Dr Evan Harris said the Government's decision to ignore the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which wanted cannabis to remain as a class C drug, was "absurd".

He added: "The only message this decision sends out is that Government drug classification policy is not credible and is based on macho posturing, rather than evidence of what works."

Thames Valley Police spokesman Rebecca Webber said force Chief Constable Sara Thornton did not wish to comment.