Thieves target foreign students

Police on patrol in Blackbird Leys

Officers from Thames Valley Police are patrolling a housing estate in Blackbird Leys hoping to deter thieves from targeting foreign students.

Police have been liaising with a nearby leisure facility with the aim of creating havens where students can go if they feel unsafe.

There have been five robberies in the last five weeks where foreign students have been robbed.

Police say people living on the estate may know who is responsible.

The campaign, called Operation Buzzard, will run during the summer holidays.

A neighbourhood team will carry out patrols on the estate with officers from Thames Valley Police's mounted section and Oxford City Council street wardens.

Sgt Robert Axe, who is leading the operation, said he believed foreign students had become an ''easy target'' for potential robbers.

Police are meeting with language schools which place families in Blackbird Leys so they can give students safety advice and provide information to host families.

Officers have issued advice to foreign students and have said they should go to the Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre and Bowlplex to get more advice.