A CHIEF police officer is hand-delivering birthday cakes to criminals in a bid to cut down on crime.

Chief Inspector Andy Boyd, the police commander in the Vale of White Horse, even pays for the £1.50 Victoria Sponge himself under a scheme targetting the worst criminals to let them know police are closely monitoring them.

The birthday cake handed over reads: “On your birthday we wish you well we would hate to see you in a cell. Time to change your ways, go straight, if you don’t, you know your fate.”

Yesterday, Mr Boyd said he believed the personal touch had contributed towards the 18 per cent cut in crime in the Vale area over the past five months.

Mr Boyd said: “We are robustly policing these offenders.

“They are visited on an almost daily basis and when it is their birthday I will go to their houses and given them a birthday cake and a card.

“Their reaction is one of surprise, but the majority accept it in the spirit in which it’s delivered.

“They recognise that we are there to assist in helping them overcome any issues they may have.

“We are taking every opportunity to deter them from crime.”

Mr Boyd goes to Tesco to get the cakes and the birthday cards are produced at Abingdon police station. Figures released this week show the overall level of crime in the Vale has fallen by 18 per cent in the past five months.

Like-for-like figures compared to the same period last year show a reduction of 418 crimes from 2,289 to 1,871.

The total amount of crime solved throughout the Vale was 29 per cent – the highest detection rate in Thames Valley.

Mr Boyd said: “I believe that giving these offenders birthday cakes and cards has helped to significantly reduce crime.

“This is only one of a large number of measures that we are trying.

“Showing that there is a support network for them and that there is someone to turn to should they ever feel the urge to commit criome again.

"The Vale is thankfully an area with very low crime.”

Burglary has reduced by 31 per cent, from 77 last year to 52.

Theft from a motor vehicle has dropped by 17 per cent, theft of a vehicle 41 per cent, criminal damage 22 per cent and assaults 26 per cent.