Women deemed "high risk" cases will be closely monitored

Women in Oxford who have suffered abuse will receive help from a specialist worker.

The six-month pilot scheme is a joint venture between Victim Support Oxfordshire and Thames Valley Police.

As part of the initiative, Victim Support will appoint the worker who will have responsibility for sufferers of domestic violence.

The position - paid for by Oxford's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership - will be based at Thames Valley Police's Cowley-based domestic violence unit.

Joanna Fenstermacher, area manager for Victim Support Oxfordshire and chair of Oxford Domestic Violence Forum, said: "We are very pleased about the new domestic violence victim liaison worker.

"The person we have employed will focus purely on the victim."

The scheme, first trialled by the Metropolitan Police, is already being successfully used by Merseyside Police.