A career Lincolnshire officer who left to progress up the ranks is set to become the force’s new chief constable.

The current Assistant Chief Constable at Derbyshire Police has been selected as the new Chief Constable for Lincolnshire.

Dr Paul Gibson, 46, has been selected by a panel led by Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones as the replacement for Bill Skelly who is retiring after 31 years of service.

Mr Gibson began his career as a PC in Lincolnshire in 1998 and spent 19 years in the force before leaving to take the ACC role at Derbyshire in 2018.

He started in Grantham before joining CID as a detective in 2000. During his time in the county he worked in a number of roles and spent six months seconded to the National Transforming Forensics Programme.

He was able to call on his expertise as he studied genetics at university and gained his doctorate in molecular medicine.

He was selected after a panel process that included questions from local residents and officers. The recommendation now goes forward to the force’s police and crime panel in next month.

Derbyshire announced last month it had promoted Rachel Swann from Deputy Chief Constable to become its new Chief Constable.

PCC Marc Jones said finding the right candidate had been a complex process and that the quality of applicants had been high.

“I wish to pay tribute to the candidates who gave so much to be part of the process and who presented me with such a tough decision to make. I truly believe that the evidence has allowed me to identify an outstanding preferred candidate in Paul. His passion for the county, its communities and the force which serves them shone through in the whole process,” he said.

“I have absolutely no doubt that Paul has a passion and determination to serve Lincolnshire running through is veins.”

Dr Gibson said he was looking forward to taking over from CC Skelly on 18 December: “I am thrilled and honoured to be selected and very much looking forward to coming home to take on the job of keeping this wonderful community safe.”

“After almost two decades serving in Lincolnshire, I know the county and its people really well and have always harboured an ambition to one day lead the force.”

PCC Jones said his new chief’s top priority will be modernisation.

“I was impressed by is very detailed plans of how the force can meet the challenges of modern policing and he has the right breadth and depth of experience to lead the force into a bright future,” he said.