NORTH Yorkshire's new top cop is "delighted" with the current state of the force.

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said that, after his first two weeks in the job, he was impressed with what he had found.

Mr Maxwell took up the position on May 16, replacing Della Cannings who retired due to ill health after more than four years at the helm.

Mr Maxwell said: "Obviously, before applying for and taking the job, I undertook considerable research into North Yorkshire Police.

"All of the research that I did pointed to a forward-thinking, improving force with a real focus on delivering excellence to its communities.

"However, you never really know an organisation, its capabilities, its challenges and its strengths until you become part of it.

"Having just completed my first two weeks in the job, I am realising just how the findings of my research were true.

"I have been so impressed with the dedication, ideas, energy and positivity of North Yorkshire Police.

"I would not claim after just two weeks to fully understand the whole of the organisation.

"However, I am convinced that we have the resources, the staff, the energy and the ideas to deliver on our promises."

Mr Maxwell, 46, who was previously deputy chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, has said his top priority will be to make North Yorkshire Police the leading force in the whole of Britain in terms of neighbourhood policing.

When he accepted the chief constable position, Mr Maxwell said he did not want to change things too quickly, and would first carry out a "capability and capacity" review to find out "where we've got people, what kinds of jobs they are doing and where crime is across the force".

He said: "I want to see us putting people first in terms of what we do, both within the force and the communities we are policing."