LANCASHIRE’S Chief Constable Steve Finnigan has been tipped to replace his former boss Sir Paul Stephenson as Met Commissioner.

The top job in UK policing is vacant after Sir Paul stepped down last week as the latest casualty of the phone hacking scandal.

Mr Finnigan, who has led the constabulary to its current status as one of the top forces in the country, became Lancashire chief constable when Sir Paul left for Scotland Yard in 2005.

He is currently overseeing a huge programme of reviews and £42m cutbacks to see the force through the next four years.

He was recently given an extension to his contract until 2015.

Recruiters said the new will take over in September on a five-year contract and will be tasked with ‘ensuring public confidence in police integrity’.

Frontrunners include ACPO president Sir Hugh Orde, Tim Godwin, Scotland Yard's acting commissioner; Bernard Hogan-Howe, acting deputy commissioner and Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire Police.