West Oxfordshire council is throwing its weight behind moves to recruit more police officers through a better pay deal.

District councillors say officers in Thames Valley should get the London "weighting" allowance - up to £6,000 extra a year - because of high property prices.

The move was agreed at yesterday's meeting after councillors were told of a recruitment crisis in the force.

Conservative Donald Seale said: "We are losing officers to other forces. For every 40 that are taken on, 150 are moving or retiring."

The issue was raised by Liberal Democrat Gareth Epps who recently visited Witney police station to talk about local policing.

"The one fact that comes through is that we are losing officers simply because of the cost of living in this area," he said. "The number of officers in West Oxfordshire, for example, is dwindling while the population increases."

The council is to call on the Government to extend London weighting to include the whole of the Thames Valley Police area.

The force has been given Home Office permission to recruit over 100 new staff this year. But in the last six months it has lost over 140 officers.

Council police committee chairman John Faulkner, a retired teacher, said the problem affected other poorly-paid professions, such as teachers and nurses.

"This is a problem that will not go away. It affects whole areas of our infrastructure," he said.