The Midcounties Co-operative is to give free Fairtrade refreshments in its stores to police officers on patrol.

The initiative, called ‘It’s a fair Co-op of tea Guv’, will be launched as a pilot scheme in ten Oxfordshire stores.

The force said police and community support officers would be able to call in for a cup of Fairtrade tea or coffee, meet staff and customers and, where space allows, complete admin duties to save them from returning to the police station during their shift.

Wendy Moore, loss prevention manager at Midcounties, said: “We believe the scheme will be a great way of building relationships between our stores and local police and will benefit the community too.

“If the pilot is a success we will expand it to other stores and also investigate whether any would be suitable to host police surgeries where the public could talk about issues and seek crime prevention advice in accessible, friendly surroundings.

“Officers need to take short breaks during their shifts and this is a way of doing so which allows them to engage with the community.

"We will have posters on display to identify the stores taking part.”

Sgt Fraser Weller, of Thames Valley Police, said: "This will hopefully enable us to carry out policing to the best of our ability. We will be able to engage with the local community and gather intelligence on matters that reflect the concerns of local residents.

"This initiative will allow us to be more accessible on a regular basis by spending less time in police stations and more time within the community managing our local neighbourhoods.

“We will be able to take a ‘comfort break’ without returning to a police station and hopefully therefore be able to enhance the time spent patrolling the area, reassuring the public and reducing the perception of the fear of crime."