THE woman who served as North Yorkshire’s first female chief constable has a new role – as chairman of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Della Cannings was a police officer for 32 years and the county force’s top officer from 2002 to 2007, when she retired due to ill health.

Her career led to her being described as a “beacon” for aspiring female police officers, but she became the focus of controversy after the cost of a shower refit for her at the force’s Newby Wiske headquarters soared to more than £20,000.

A review of the cost of the refit by the North Yorkshire Police Authority cleared Ms Cannings of any wrongdoing, concluding she could not have been expected to do any more to ensure protocol was followed.

Her new appointment, made by the Appointments Commission, will initially be for four years, with remuneration of £20,896 a year. Ms Cannings succeeds Dr Nick Varey, who retired after four years as chairman.

Her role will be to ensure the service performs effectively to maximise benefits for patients.

Ms Cannings is currently deputy chair of the National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care and chairwoman of the Independent Advisory Panel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.

She said she was looking forward to continuing to develop and deliver a first-class service of patient care.

She said: “I pay tribute to Dr Nick Varey in bringing the service to its current structure and improved levels of performance.”

Dr Varey said: “I would like to extend a warm welcome to Della and know her experience and understanding of the emergency services will be valuable in helping to lead the trust.”

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Ambulance Service chief executive Martyn Pritchard will leave the trust in June to lead work to reform the urgent and emergency care system across the region, on behalf of NHS Yorkshire and the Humber.