POLICE last night admitted they have not been catching enough criminals after damning criticism from a Government inspector.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary rated Thames Valley Police’s performance as ‘fair’ in this year’s Police Report Card, placing it in the lower half of the 42 English and Welsh forces.

But it criticised the force’s record for catching criminals – particularly violent ones – and rated its success at solving crime as ‘poor’, the lowest possible mark.

The finding led to an admission from Deputy Chief Constable Francis Habgood the force had been failing on this, and senior police officers met the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday to find a solution.

Total crime fell by 8.3 per cent – 44,496 to 41,727 incidents – during the period 2008/09 to 2009/10.

But the amount of crime solved by police in Oxfordshire over the same period fell from 25.9 per cent to 22.5 per cent – meaning 2,400 fewer crimes were solved during the year.

Mr Habgood said emphasis had previously been placed on cutting crime and increasing public confidence.

He said: “What is most important is that crime is reducing and probably most people would rather the crime didn’t happen in the first place.

“But we do appreciate improvements need to be made to detection rates, particularly among assault cases. The focus has probably not been on the criminal conviction and enforcement of side of things as it has in previous years and we need to get that back.”

Businessman Ahad Ghanbary, 47, of Kidlington, has been attacked with a baseball bat and also woke to find an intruder in his house.

Mr Ghanbary said vandals had also caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to his Range Rover and Audi.

He said: “I have been a victim of crime on many occasions. My own experience is that I have to agree with this report.”

Zoe Billingham, Her Majesty’s Inspector for Thames Valley, said: “There are areas for improvement. The force is performing poorly overall in solving crime. Its detection rates for violent crime are of particular concern.”

The force ranked poor for confidence within ethnic minorities, but excellent for cutting road deaths and injuries. In all other categories it was rated as ‘fair’.

Government inspectors praised the force for continued falling levels of crime in line with national trends.

The review scrutinised police during 2009 and it is the first time police have been assessed in this way.

Cleveland and Northumbria Police were ranked the best performing while Greater Manchester Police, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire were the worst.

Thames Valley pledged to improve how it investigates crimes, particularly assaults, during the early moments after incidents, Mr Habgood said.