EAST Lothian’s new head of policing has vowed to build on the work of his predecessor and ensure that the county “remains a safe place to live, work and visit”.

Chief Inspector Neil Mitchell succeeded Steven Duncan at the beginning of the week.

The father-of-two spoke to the Courier on Friday afternoon and was looking forward to starting his new role.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted and honoured to take up this privileged role in an area I know well and love.

“I have previously worked within East Lothian in a variety of roles: as a PC, sergeant and inspector and look forward to the challenges ahead.

“Chief Inspector Duncan has done a fantastic job over the last year and I hope to continue and build upon this.

“There is lots of great work being done through strong and effective partnerships and I am keen to build upon and develop these further to ensure that East Lothian remains a safe place to live, work and visit.”

Ch Insp Mitchell joined Lothian and Borders Police in 2003 and worked as a constable in response and pro-active teams across both East and Midlothian.

During that time, he was seconded to the Prestonpans initiative team, tackling anti-social behaviour across the area.

He was promoted to sergeant in 2009 and worked in response roles at Haddington and Musselburgh before moving to corporate development at force headquarters.

Since then, he has worked in many roles across Edinburgh, as well as secondments to the violence reduction department, performance support and crime management.

In 2015, he returned to response policing in East Lothian as a newly promoted inspector, managing a team of dedicated officers before taking up a project role developing and implementing the division’s local approaches to policing strategy.

He added: “Although I now live in Midlothian, I have spent the majority of the last 15 years living in East Lothian and am looking to return in the near future with my wife and two young children.

“I know the officers and staff who serve East Lothian well and look forward to working with them again to make policing in East Lothian the best it can be.”