NOT for the first time, an extraordinary power game is being played out at the heart of Cleveland Police.

When the expensive farce of Operation Lancet came to an end, it presented an opportunity for a new dawn for Britain's most accident-prone police force.

Barry Shaw, the Chief Constable The Northern Echo said should resign, was finally replaced by Sean Price. Ray Mallon became the elected Mayor of Middlesbrough. Hatchets were buried and, for a while, a fragile peace prevailed.

But it didn't last long. A financial "black hole" comprising nearly £8m was discovered in police accounts and the relationship between Mr Price and the chairman of the police authority, Ken Walker, disintegrated in acrimony, suspicion, and a flurry of claims and counter claims.

The result is that, once again, Cleveland Police is a force in crisis, a force that is lacking direction, a force that has blown its chance of rebuilding public confidence.

We had lost confidence in Barry Shaw as Chief Constable and said so in no uncertain terms. As yet, the jury is out on whether his successor has had a fair crack of the whip.

The common denominator is Ken Walker, who backed the discredited Mr Shaw to the hilt but who has swiftly turned on Mr Price, demanding that he publicly carries the can for the financial mess and accusing him of creating a "smokescreen of propaganda".

When Lancet ended, Cleveland Police was in desperate need of new management.

Three years after the end of Lancet, and with Cleveland Police still in a sorry mess, it is clear that Ken Walker should have left the scene along with Barry Shaw.

Mr Walker should do so now and give the new dawn a chance to break.