UNIFORMED and undercover officers have completed their first Saturday night patrols as part of a new operation to catch sex 'predators'.

Last week, Thames Valley Police announced that it had launched Project Vigilant in Oxford city centre, with the aim of reducing sex attacks at night.

READ AGAIN: New initiative to tackle rise in sex crime

There has been a 12 per cent increase in non-domestic sexual offences reported in Oxford, rising from 368 in 2018 to 413 so far in 2019.

A combination of uniformed and undercover officers will be carrying out patrols to identify people who may be displaying signs of 'predatory' behaviour such as harassment, inappropriate touching and loitering.

Superintendent Joe Kidman, police commander for Oxford, joined officers last night. 

Tweeting at 4am, he said officers helped an 18 year-old woman to get home as she had been left with no money by her friends.

Supt Kidman also said officers disrupted a suspect seen 'hanging around outside nightclubs at 2am.'

The heightened police presence comes in the wake of a rape investigation being launched just over two weeks ago.

Police launched a witness appeal after a 17-year-old girl said she woke up in an alleyway in Oxford to find a man raping her.

READ AGAIN: Police investigate rape of teenage girl

The teenager had met the man on a night out in The Bridge club, on Hythe Bridge Street, and left with him at 2.40am on Saturday, November 10.

Another rape investigation was launched in April of this year, involving an 18-year-old woman who was targeted after leaving a nightclub. 

She said a man approached her and followed her, after she left Plush nightclub at 2.30am, before leading her to an unknown location and raping her. 

Project Vigilant will focus on the 'night-time economy', police said.