PICTURE the scene: You have just discovered your house has been burgled, but thankfully you live almost next door to Thames Valley Police headquarters.

At least someone there will be able to deal with the problem, right? Wrong.

When pensioner Graham Hall found out someone had broken into his Kidlington home, naturally he went straight round to the police headquarters.

Sadly, the off duty policemen inside were gearing up for a poker night and no one was able to deal with his problem.

Helpfully, someone manning the doorbell passed him a slip of paper with a number to call.

He was also given a crime number.

That was last Wednesday night.

A week later, he is still waiting for a visit from a policeman.

Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington is, of course, not a police station.

And there is nothing wrong with off duty policemen playing cards, especially when the money being played for goes towards the upkeep of the social club.

The biggest scandal here is it is becoming increasingly difficult to report crimes – especially when the lion’s share of police stations only operate during office hours.

We dread to think what would have happened if something far more serious had befallen Mr Hall.