Thames Valley Police has been named one of the best forces in the country.

A Government performance report awarded the force - which covers Oxfordshire - an "excellent" rating for the confidence it instilled in the public and its work in tackling local priorities.

As part of its shift to neighbourhood policing, Thames Valley plans to introduce local teams to a further 100 areas by next March and recruit more community support officers.

Neighbourhood Action Groups, made up of police and councillors, are already up and running. These aim to respond to residents' concerns by prioritising issues raised by members of the public, such as drug dealing or antisocial behaviour.

The force also received "good" ratings for detecting crime and bringing criminals to justice and for its results in promoting road traffic safety and dealing with anti-social behaviour.

But its efforts at reducing crime were rewarded with a lesser rating of "fair". The Police Performance Assessments 2005/6 report, published yesterday, showed Thames Valley had improved in every major performance category apart from crime reduction, where progress was considered "stable".

But it found the force wanting when it came to the recruitment of minority ethnic officers.

It gave police bosses a "poor" rating within the overall "good rating" for presiding over a force in which just 3.9 per cent of officers - compared with four per cent the previous year - were from an ethnic minority compared with 7.6 per cent of the area's population.

Analysis of performance targets gave Thames Valley an overall score of 13 points - and a top-third position in a league of England and Wales's 43 forces.

The best score was 18 points, recorded by Staffordshire, and the worst just three points, awarded to both Humberside and Northamptonshire forces.

Thames Valley Police attributed its good record for promoting safety to its Safer Streets campaign, which brought together experts from different organisations to reduce violent and alcohol-related crime.

Sara Thornton, the force's acting chief constable, said: "The 'excellent' grading for local policing is very encouraging and, while the roll-out of neighbourhood policing is still in its early stages, it is a sign that we are moving in the right direction.

"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."