Police are hoping youngsters in West Oxfordshire will go crazy for a new Cop Trumps-style card game.

Faces and tips from 20 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), neighbourhood area officers and schools liaison officers have been emblazoned on ‘Bobby Swap’ cards.

The idea is for youngsters to collect the whole series, either by swapping cards with friends or finding all the officers to get his or her card.

Pc Simon Collins was at Witney’s Madley Brook School explaining the scheme yesterday and it met with approval from 10-year-olds Dan Ashby and Courtney Cummins.

Dan said: “It’s a good idea, they are cool. I have just started collecting football team cards and only got two so far. But I will certainly try and get as many of these as I can.”

And classmate Courtney added: “They are good. I can see it’s a good way of getting to know who your local officer is.”

The card game was originally used by the police in Merseyside and, if successful in west Oxfordshire, could be rolled out across the county.

Each card has printed information explaining who the officer is, which neighbourhood team they are in and how long they have been in the police force, along with their telephone number and email address.

And there is an individual ‘Top Tip’ – Pc Collins’s is: “Give respect and you will get respect,” while PCSO Angela Alford, Carterton area PCSO, has “Criminal damage is an offence and we treat it seriously.”

She said: “The youngsters in the villages I cover had several of mine, so were able to swap with friends from other areas who had cards for their local officer. The feedback we have had has all been positive.”

Her colleague Sara Holmes, who became one of Thames Valley Police’s first PCSOs five years ago, has already seen all 50 of her first batch of cards snapped up by primary school children in Carterton. She said: “I’ve had to tell some children they’ll have to wait until I get some more to dish out.

“The thing is they take them home to show their parents, so the whole family gets to know who you are.”

The ‘Bobby Swaps’ will later extend to cards for sergeants and inspectors, including area police commander Jack Malhi, a sure-fire prize for collectors as he spends less time out on the streets.

Police spokesman Toby Shergold said: “It’s meant for primary school children, but some secondary school children have shown interest. The main thing is that to get the cards, children have to approach their officers and get to know them.”

Police have not revealed how much the scheme cost.