The county’s new chief constable has ordered his senior colleagues to return to the beat.

Stephen Kavanagh, who was appointed earlier this month, has said that every officer from the rank of Chief Inspector upwards, will now be expected to spend four hours each month with their junior officers.

He said: “Once a month we are getting back to the shop floor.

"We are spending time out on patrol, with custody, staff on front counters, seeing what local officers and staff are experiencing, what’s going well and what they need additional support with.”