KENT Police has appointed a new deputy Chief Constable. Jim Barker-McCardle has been promoted from his previous post of Assistant Chief Constable.

Educated at Chatham House Grammar School, Ramsgate, Mr Barker-McCardle, 43, joined Kent Police as a Constable in Gravesend in 1981.He takes from Bob Ayling who recently retired.

Mr Barker-McCardle was promoted to Inspector in 1988, first serving in Maidstone and then Tunbridge Wells and in 1991 became the Chief Constable's Staff Officer, based at the force headquarters in Maidstone.

He became a chief inspector in 1992 and was promoted to superintendent in 1993, serving as the West Kent area commander. In 1996, he was promoted to chief superintendent and headed the Operational Support Department.

He was appointed an Assistant Chief Constable in 1999.

Mr Barker-McCardle said: "I look forward to taking up the challenges and working with Mike Fuller our Chief Constable, the Kent Police Authority and out partners to sustain performance in reducing crime and also improving policing at the local and community level with a particular focus on tackling anti-social behaviour."