The Government has been accused of not doing enough to tackle the shortage of teachers in Oxfordshire.

Witney MP David Cameron said new Labour "control freakery" was discouraging teachers from joining the profession, while schools were being denied the chance to attract staff by paying competitive salaries.

The Conservative politician called on the Government to reverse the shortage by imposing a moratorium on new directives and paperwork for teachers, and by giving greater powers to schools to manage their own finances. He said this would enable them to pay more to attract the best teachers.

In a question to School Standards Minister Stephen Timms, in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said: "Recruiting and maintaining high quality teachers and public servants in areas like Oxfordshire is one of the most intractable problems we face.

"I am not convinced that the Government is giving this issue the priority it deserves. I will continue to press for action."

He later added: "The Government shouldn't try to micro-manage everything from Whitehall. It is 'control freakery'." But his speech was given a lukewarm reception by one of the county's largest teaching unions.

The secretary of the Oxfordshire branch of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, Geoff Branner, said: "His comments are a bit ridiculous, coming from the party that began the nightmare that education finds itself in.

"However, we are always grateful when any sinner repents, and would welcome it if the Tory party came up with real proposals to leave education to sort itself out."

Teaching vacancies in Oxfordshire have risen from just one in 1997 to 14 today.