THE Tory candidate to become the Thames Valley's first police and crime commissioner has said he is not planning any major changes.

Anthony Stansfeld, the West Berkshire councillor for Kintbury, saw off competition from Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council leader, David Burbage, to win his party's nomination for the election on November 15.

Newbury-born Cllr Stansfeld, who is already chairman of the Thames Valley Police Authority performance committee, said: "If elected, I don't think there are going to be any great changes in policing. Police performance has improved, despite the fact that we have had some cutbacks. The numbers of police on the streets has not gone down, and I would like to see it remain that way."

The former Army major, who served as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War in 1982, points to the 15% drop in household burglaries since he took the performance chairmanship last year. He said he wants the force to continue to focus on burglary, particularly in Reading and Slough.

He added: "Tackling household burglary is one of the most important things. We must focus on repeat offending, through youth offending teams and monitoring of people closely when they come out of prison."

Cllr Stansfeld, who is chairman of Germany-based FIDAS, a green technology research and development company, said he would also look to maintain a focus on neighbourhood policing and to increase detection rates for serious sexual offences and domestic violence.

He added: "We do this by encouraging people to come forward. The more people we can then charge, the more confidence it will give others to come forward as well. This may increase the crime figures, but these are crimes that are being committed but are going undetected."