Oxford's police force has won praise for neighbourhood policing and tackling anti-social behaviour following a Government inspection, it was announced this morning.

Thames Valley Police was graded 'excellent' for local policing and a majority of residents rated the neighbourhood policing as 'good' or 'excellent'.

Other priorities including promoting safety, resource use and investigating crime were each graded as 'good' and 'improved'.

The results of the inspection were published by the Police Standards Unit and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

Acting chief constable Sara Thornton said: "There is, of course, always room for improvement and we will strive to maintain excellence where it exists and do better where we know we must."

See tomorrow's Oxford Mail for the full story.