A new beat officer assigned to a troubled estate at Abingdon said that police intelligence had identified a gang of troublemakers.

PC Ian Leese, a former RAF officer involved in military intelligence, is the new officer for the Peachcroft estate in north Abingdon.

His brief has been to root out a group calling itself the 'Peachcroft Posse', which has been causing grief to shopkeepers and residents with its anti-social behaviour.

PC Leese said the police were building up a good intelligence base about the activities of some of the young people they believed were at the heart of the trouble. He said they and their parents would receive visits from the police.

PC Leese, 46, was a flight lieutenant in the RAF at Abingdon until the base closed 11 years ago and the Army took over.

Later he joined the United Nations as a military observer in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq after the Gulf War.

He served in the Falklands and worked in counter-intelligence in Northern Ireland.

Before leaving the RAF and joining Thames Valley Police, PC Leese was based at RAF Brize Norton, where he worked on airfield defence. After a spell as a special constable, he joined the force full time.

He said: "I volunteered to become the area beat officer for this part of north Abingdon because I used to live on the Peachcroft estate and know the community.

"It is a good area, full of decent people who deserve better than having to suffer at the hands of a small minority of young troublemakers.

"We are not going to tolerate vandalism, crime and bad behaviour. I will be here during the day, evening and at night in my car, on my bike or on foot."

PC Leese can be contacted on 08458 505505.