The regional ACC for the five forces in the South West Police Collaboration will take up a new role as Deputy Chief Constable of Gloucestershire on August 30.

Shaun West was also chair of the Covid 19 National Foresight Group where his experience in Civil Contingency resulted in him leading four interim Operational Reviews to support ministers across England and Wales

In his new role as DCC he will take over from former Deputy Chief Constable Jon Stratford.

He started his career in policing as a Special Constable in 1994 and subsequently joined Lincolnshire Police in 1997, where he held a variety of roles including Temporary Assistant Chief Constable.

These roles included response officer, neighbourhood officer, intelligence officer and a variety of detective roles including Senior Investigating Officer.

He was also previously the chairperson of the Lincolnshire Local Resilience Forum, leading on all resilience and emergency preparedness for response and recovery across the county.

DCC West is also a Specialist Strategic Firearms Commander, Gold Public Order Commander, Strategic Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defence Commander and Multi-Agency Gold Incident Commander.

He has worked on a Rule of Law mission in Kosovo.

Chief Constable Rod Hansen said: "It was a tough selection process that was hotly contested so Shaun has earned his place.

"Shaun has worked across nine police force areas, four in the East Midlands and five in the South West, leading public service for the Regional and Organised Crime Unit, Counter Terrorism Policing and Specialist Operations, in support of local communities.

"He is passionate about youth engagement, previously holding the National Police Chiefs’ Council portfolio for Mini Police, and I am hopeful these skills can be emulated by our officers and staff.”