THE new chief of police in South Ribble is promising to keep the area safe.

Superintendent Chris Weigh has been appointed to take charge of policing in Lancashire Constabulary's Southern Division, which covers South Ribble, Chorley, and West Lancs.

As the new operations manager he will take over from former boss Mike Barton, recently promoted to detective chief superintendent, who has moved to the force's headquarters in Hutton.

Chris, who started 18 years ago as a patrol officer in Ormskirk, has experience in many ares of police work, from custody to CID, to criminal justice support work.

But now Chief Supt Weigh is looking forward to his new job. He said: "I am delighted to be returning to Southern Division and looking forward to carrying on the good work already taking place.

"I intend to make sure I listen to the public to establish how we can work together to make sure the area remains a safe place to live."

When he was promoted to Inspector, he spent some time in the Air Support Unit, then worked in the Major Crime Unit before leaving the area to become chief inspector in charge of uniformed operations in Pennine Division.

He has been the operations manager in the Pennine Division for the past year.

Mr Weigh, who helped get Lancashire constabulary airborne with its first police helicopter, was involved in the night-time operation during last year's disturbances in Burnley.

Now he is the operations manager, Mr Weigh, who is married with two children, will be looking at bringing in community beat managers across his division, designed to make communication between the police and local residents easier.