Kent's police and crime commissioner Ann Barnes is to appoint a
chief of staff on a salary of about £90,000.

The post is being advertised on the commissioner's website and
follows the departure in February of Graham Hooper, who had been
the chief executive of the Kent Police Authority.

It comes in a week the embattled commissioner,
who earns £85,000, was left reeling from
the furore surrounding her youth adviser Paris Brown's offensive tweets.

A spokesman for Mrs Barnes (pictured right) said the post
was one required by the Home Office under the legislation around
crime commissioners and would be primarily responsible for
implementing policy and managing the commissioner's staff.

In the advert, applicants are told they will be expected to
"deliver the dynamic plans" of the commissioner. "Excellent
interpersonal and communication skills are a given... a willingness
to think differently and to develop new ways of working is
considered essential."

The former chief executive of the police authority Graham Hooper
was paid around £104,000. He left in February by mutual
agreement.

Although the post is one required by law, not everyone is
impressed. Several indignant comments on the Kent Police Federation
Facebook page suggested the money would be better spent on
recruiting police officers.

One posted: "Utterly incredible. I never thought that such a
huge gravy train would follow with all that officers are struggling
with how on earth is this equitable and fair!"

Interviews for the post will take place in May.

Ann Barnes appointed
Peter Carroll, left, and Howard Cox as special advisers

The commissioner's budget is about £1.5m. representing 0.5% of
the overall force budget.

In December, Mrs Barnes announced she was appointing
two "special advisers" on six-month contracts worth £35,400
each.

The posts were taken up by Cranbrook businessman Howard Cox and
Peter Carroll, who masterminded her election campaign and was Lib
Dem parliamentary candidate for Maidstone and the Weald in
2010.