THE new chief constable of Cleveland yesterday extended an olive branch to Ray Mallon, the man who controversially quit the force to become mayor of Middlesbrough.

In his first public statement after he was named as the successor to Chief Constable Barry Shaw, Sean Price promised a fresh start for the beleaguered force which has been torn apart by five years of bitter wranglings caused by Operation Lancet, the anti-corruption inquiry.

Mr Price, 45, said he wanted to build on Cleveland's reputation for "forward-thinking, innovative and hi-tech policing" and promised a new era of co-operation with Mr Mallon. "We have a joint aim and that is to make Cleveland a better place, so I intend to play my part in that to the full," said Mr Price, currently the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire.

"It's a shame the good things that are going on in Cleveland Police are overshadowed by backward looking approaches and I want to get away from that.

"Let us not get the idea that we have a huge problem at the minute because we don't, but I will put structures in place to make sure we don't have any problems in the future.

"We have to put the past behind us and move forward because we have lots of things that we are good at and there are lots of things we can improve on."

Last night, Mr Mallon welcomed Mr Price's appointment. He said: "From the reports I have heard, Sean Price is a very positive police officer with the right kind of vision to combat crime and anti-social behaviour to take this area forward.

"I trust the judgement of the police authority and look forward to working in partnership with the chief constable for the good of the town.

"I believe it is time to look at the future rather than the past."

Mr Price said the war against drug dealers and those trying establish markets in crack cocaine on Teesside would continue but added that more had to be done to prevent people using illicit substances in the long term.

"I want to send out a message to those people who deal in drugs," he said.

"There is no place for you here, you will be targeted at every opportunity and our war against you will be unrelenting."

He said that a combined strategy was needed to educate young people about the dangers of drug abuse as well as treating those already battling addictions.

Mr Price added: "You can have a big impact and bring crime down because the amount of crime that is committed to support drugs is absolutely incredible."

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