Francis Habgood will be Acting Deputy Chief Constable from September 15 until his permanent appointment in mid October. He succeeds Alex Marshall who has been selected as the new Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary.

Mr Habgood, aged 43, joined Thames Valley Police on January 19 2004 on promotion to Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Specialist Operations and recently moved to the role of ACC Local Policing.

Mr Habgood previously served with West Yorkshire Police, which he joined in 1987; he was heavily involved with community safety and led on West Yorkshire's response to the Macpherson report. Before he moved to Thames Valley he was the Basic Command Unit Commander in North West Leeds.

Mr Habgood has taken the lead in Thames Valley on numerous high profile operations. These include Operation Haul, which saw an organised criminal network jailed for 49 years for the burglary of country houses, theft of valuable metals and theft of ATMs containing thousands of pounds worth of cash.

He has also been the Thames Valley lead in many of the most recent high profile terrorist incidents involving the Force.

Mr Habgood is married to Nicolette, who works for the Open University. They have two sons, Elliott and Sebastian. Following his appointment, Francis said: "I am very honoured to have been appointed Deputy Chief Constable and delighted to be carrying on serving the community of Thames Valley in my new role.

"I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead and will work hard with colleagues to ensure that we continue to make it a safer place and that we provide a quality service."

Chief Constable Sara Thornton added: "Francis has served in Thames Valley for more than four years in a number of demanding roles with an impressive record. I am delighted that the Police Authority has selected him as my Deputy and look forward to working more closely with him."

Chair of Thames Valley Police Authority Christine Weston said: "The Authority is absolutely delighted to announce the new appointment of Francis Habgood as Deputy Chief Constable.

"The decision to appoint Francis was taken after a day of vigorous interviews. The applicants were of an extremely high standard and we would like to thank all those taking part in the process.

"I was on the interview panel when Francis was appointed Assistant Chief Constable, so it has given me particular pleasure to see him appointed to the role of DCC now."