Your paper has carried many letters on cycling issues in and around the city since Keith Hazell asked the Acting Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police to respond to his assertion that we ignore cycling offences.

As I have responsibility for policing the city, she has asked me to respond on her behalf.

Police do take action against inappropriate and dangerous cycling. Fixed-penalty tickets can be issued for most offences and, indeed, they have been and will continue to be so.

In a city such as Oxford, local police try to balance all the demands of the various sections of the communities we serve.

Believe it or not, campaigns (generally small scale) to ensure cycles are equipped with bells do feature as well as the larger scale focus to ensure that those who cycle after dark use lights - common sense to many.

As many would suspect, in common with Cambridge, the city suffers a very high level of cycle theft and many people will be stopped over the coming months as we attempt to give practical common sense advice about ensuring your cycle stays yours, and at the same time advising, and where necessary issuing tickets for offences for inappropriate use, lack of lights and ignoring the traffic signs.

We will also deploy some sophisticated "trap" bicycles to tempt the more light-fingered.

As more Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) start to patrol across the city, they too will have the power to deal with many offences - including cycling offences - and in conjunction with local groups and people we, your local police, expect to see a greater deployment of officers to priorities that local people have.

Deploying officers in both uniform and plain clothes on the streets is an effective way to reduce crime and keep criminals at bay.

That is one principal reason why there have been big falls in the level of mugging and robbery across the city - against national trends of rising street crime.

Police in Oxford will continue to work hard to make the city an even safer place for all.

What is needed now is each and every one of us to play a part in that, from being careful about not becoming a victim of crime through to cycling responsibly with respect for others.

Supt Jim Trotman Local Police Area Commander Oxford City