A NEW police district commander has been appointed for the Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay areas.

He is Ch Insp Lee Russell who lives with his family in the Whitstable area and has been in the police service 21 years.

He has been working as a detective ch insp in the area and moves to the uniform side to take over from Ch Insp Nick Broome who has moved to Kent Police headquarters in Maidstone.

Mr Russell has children at schools in Whitstable and Canterbury and is an active member of his local church.

He said: “I live in the area and spend lots of my free time in and around the district with my family so I have a keen interest in keeping the district a safe and enjoyable place to work, live in and visit.

“I look forward to working with our partners and local communities and assisting in the development of neighbourhood teams throughout the area.”

The position of Det Ch Insp in the area has been taken over by Matt Pringle who is also no stranger to the district. During his 13 years of service he has also worked at Ashford, Folkestone, Dover and, most recently, at headquarters in the Kent Police College.

He said: “I am hugely enjoying coming back to the area which is now the combined one of East Kent. I am keen to continue the area’s excellent performance at reducing burglary and maintaining the professionalism and delivery that the intelligence and special investigation units are renowned for.”