CHIPPENHAM’S new police inspector Steve Cox says he is keen to get started with a force that will almost quadruple the one he recently commanded in Wootton Bassett.

Insp Cox, who started work at Chippenham Police Station recently, will oversee 75 members of Chippenham, Corsham and Calne’s forces, up from 27 at his previous post in Wootton Bassett, Cricklade and Malmesbury.

Insp Cox said: “I will be sad to leave the Wootton Bassett sector as I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the post as the area commander, but I do think it is important to not remain in one place too long as you can become too comfortable.

“During my 16 years’ service in the police, I have worked in two forces and 11 stations. It will certainly be challenging for me to move to Chippenham, which is much larger sector, but I’m keen to get started and continue the excellent work that has been done there.”

Insp Cox, who lives in Trowbridge with his family, has been in the Police Support Unit for 15 years, getting involved with high-profile police work such as the Newbury bypass protests, the G8 summit in Scotland, and Premiership football matches.

However, the duty he is most proud of is managing the police operation relating to the repatriation service personnel killed overseas.

“I have personally managed 100 operations and have sadly seen 254 of our brave servicemen and women being repatriated into the UK,” said Insp Cox. “It is a great example of three police forces and the Royal Air Force working together to ensure the days run as smoothly as possible to ensure families and friends can pay their respects to the brave men and women in the services who have died.

“For an operation like this to go wrong would be unacceptable, it has been a large commitment and I am so proud of the work done by all my team and our partners to ensure dignity for the bereaved.”

The new Inspector of the Wootton Bassett police is former County Deputy Inspector Chris Martin.

He said: “The biggest challenges for me within the Inspector role will be the organisation of the repatriations, which is obviously a huge part of the job, and I’ll be involved with Womad and things organised by the military, like the international air tattoo. We will also be impacted by the financial cutbacks across the force and, although it will be challenging, I have an excellent force to work with.”