A NEW police chief has been appointed to head operational policing in Lancashire Constabulary's Southern Division.

Supt Chris Weigh has taken over as Operations Manager, covering Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire. This follows the promotion to Det Chief Supt of Mike Barton who has moved to Hutton.

Chris started his policing career as a foot patrol officer in Ormskirk. During his 18 years' service, he has worked in various departments including custody, CID, and Criminal Justice Support.

On promotion to Inspector he spent some time in the Air Support Unit -- having been instrumental in securing a helicopter for the force. He also worked in the Major Crime Unit before becoming Chief Inspector in charge of uniformed operations in Pennine Division. He has been the Operations Manager there for the past year and was in charge of the night-time policing operation during last year's disturbances in Burnley.

Chris said: "I amlooking forward to carrying on all the good work that is already taking place. I'm sure there will be plenty of challenges ahead and 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."

A priority will be to establish community beat managers. "I am keen to see the development of community beat managers with local patch ownership, because it will allow for consistency and first class liaison and communication," he said.

Chris is married with two children and lives in West Lancashire.