Police are winning the war on rural crime, despite villagers' claims to the contrary, a top police officer has said.

Supt Phil Gormley, Thames Valley Police's Southern Oxfordshire Area Commander, pointed to a 22 per cent reduction in all crime.

The area, which covers the stretch of the county from Botley to Henley, has also seen a 49 per cent drop in vehicle crime over the past two months and 12 per cent fewer domestic burglaries.

Mr Gormley said: "One of the major problems facing the rural community is the fear of crime. But recent statistics from the Home Office show Southern Oxfordshire is the fifth safest place to live in the country, in terms of violent crime.

"You are also three times more likely to be a victim of crime if you live in an urban area rather than a rural one. "I refute that crime, in particular violent crime and crime against people's property, is out of control in Oxfordshire. I don't think there's any statistical or anecdotal evidence to back that up."

He added he kept in touch with public opinion through regular community consultation forums held throughout his policing area. "The main things that come out are issues revolving around quality of life parking and speeding problems. I always get more complimentary letters than ones of complaint," he said.

Mr Gormley believes one of the problems facing police is that the public expect both a prompt response when they dial 999 and to see bobbies routinely pounding the beat.

He said: "That is what I would like to provide, but we do have finite resources. I have to manage my response to serious incidents while maintaining visibility. "But we have not pulled resources from the rural hinterlands. We have kept open all the police stations in this sector, which operate 24 hours a day. We have also opened a new station at Wheatley within the past six months, staffed by a sergeant and a team of five, and we have also increased the staff at Faringdon."

In response to councillors in Cumnor, who claimed to have lost confidence in Thames Valley Police, he said only 57 crimes were reported from the village in the 12 months up to March. From these, vandalism did not appear to be a serious problem, as they had claimed.

The force, in common with others, has a target response time of 15 minutes for serious incidents, and mostly achieves this. In addition, Mr Gormley has made it policy that a police officer attends every report of crime, unless requested not to.

The shift pattern of the 180 officers in the southern area has been re-arranged, so that as many staff as possible are on duty at 'peak hours' generally 5pm to 12pm and 8am to 10am.

Under the Crime and Disorder Act, the force is also working with other agencies to tackle the root causes of crime, with initiatives including teaching children to respect themselves and their bodies.

Mr Gormley urged residents of rural communities to help themselves by forming Neighbourhood Watch groups, giving any information they may have to the police or Crimestoppers, or becoming special constables. The force is always looking for people in rural areas who are willing to answer the phone for the police or do some administration. This frees officers to patrol the streets.

Anyone interested can contact the personnel manager at area headquarters in Abingdon on 01235 556817.