Thieves smashed their way into 40 cars in an Oxford city centre car park - after a council bungle meant there was no money to pay security staff.

The vehicles were hit in just one month at the Westgate Centre car park.

Security staff working on short-term contracts were laid off at the end of September after the budget mix-up meant there was no cash to pay them.

And in the month it took to rectify the problem, car thieves went on a pre-Christmas crime spree.

The security staff were back on their beat yesterday, and the crime rate was expected to fall dramatically.

But the sharp upturn in crime during October came as no surprise to police or car park supervisors. The patrols were introduced two years ago and had succeeded in knocking crime down by between 80 and 90 per cent.

Graham Smith, chief associate engineer at the city council, said problems occurred when the budgets were put together this time last year.

"For some unknown reason, some money went into the wrong pot which meant we didn't have enough money to pay the staff," he said.

"The council worked as fast as it could and we have now taken staff back on and will have them until at least March 31 next year.

"But I wasn't surprised at all about the number of crimes here."

News that the security staff were back in place was welcomed by Oxford police, who normally have only a handful of crimes from the car park reported to them each month.

A spokesman said: "Oxford City Council have supported us in dramatically reducing car crime in the city over the last couple of years, primarily through their employment of security guards.

"This is a crucial part of our efforts to tackle crime and we applaud them for sorting this matter out."

But Cllr Jean Fooks, chairman of the city's highways committee, said: "There is concern why this budget problem wasn't picked up earlier.

"We must have staff there, because they have done precisely what was expected reduced crime to very low levels. What happened when they weren't there just shows what an essential job they do."

**Police were questioning a man on suspicion of car crime after he was arrested allegedly trying to break into a car in the Westgate car park on Sunday.

**Were you among the drivers whose car was attacked in the crime spree? If so, contact our Newsdesk on 01865 425500.