THE man chosen to be Cheshire's new police chief has commanded high-profile roles policing international football tournaments, including work deterring hooliganism.

Mark Roberts, currently the deputy chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, has been lined up as the successor to Darren Martland, who retires in the spring.

Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane revealed Mr Roberts has been chosen as his preferred candidate to take up the position of Cheshire's chief constable.

The new leader previously served with the Cheshire force in the role of assistant chief constable from 2014 to 2017.

During his time in Cheshire, Mr Roberts led a realignment of local policing in the county, creating eight local police units, which was linked to reduced crime rates.

Before that the police chief spent more than 20 years at Greater Manchester Police in both investigative and uniform roles playing an active part in major incidents, including the Manchester riots in 2011. At this time, he was also Head of Investigations for the North West Counter Terrorism Unit.

Mark is the national lead for football policing and covert legislation and guidance. He was responsible for the UK's policing support for EURO 2016, the 2018 World Cup in Russia and has recently completed an independent review into football policing on behalf of Police Scotland.

The appointment panel was chaired by the police and crime commissioner, who said: "I'm delighted to select Mark Roberts as my preferred candidate for chief constable and I'm looking forward to working with him to further develop our community policing model.

"Mark has a wealth of experience in local policing and shares my vision of delivering truly local community-based policing which puts residents at the heart of the service."

Mr Roberts said: "I'm extremely proud to be selected as the preferred candidate for Cheshire chief constable.

"Having previously worked in Cheshire, I know that the Constabulary has a great workforce that is committed to delivering an outstanding service for the people of Cheshire."

The appointment is subject to a confirmation hearing by Cheshire Police and Crime Panel at a meeting this Friday (March 12).