THE woman who masterminded the defence of Selby during the floods of 2000 has become the new head of North Yorkshire Police CID.

Superintendent Carmel Napier has been promoted to the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent and will become the Head Of Specialist Support.

Her appointment, beginning on Monday, is the second key post to be given to a woman at North Yorkshire Police in recent weeks.

Last month, Della Cannings was named as the successor to David Kenworthy as the force's Chief Constable.

Det Chief Supt Napier's new role will place her in charge of all major crime investigations in the county, and give her overall responsibility for CID and associated specialist support departments.

These include scenes of crimes, fingerprint bureau, fraud squad, drugs squad and crime intelligence, among others.

Having achieved a degree in English and Music, Det Chief Supt Napier began her career with Hertfordshire Police in 1983.

She has spent most of her career working with CID. Transferred to North Yorkshire Police in April 2000, Det Chief Supt Napier was in charge of the complaints and professional standards department.

She was Incident Commander during the Selby floods and was invited to meet the Prime Minister at Downing Street, in recognition of the police response to the emergency situation.

Det Chief Supt Napier said she was looking forward to her new appointment.

"The work will bring with it many challenges," she said.

"My priority is to review and establish our current levels of performance, and to ascertain our partner agencies' and communities' needs and responsibilities.

"I will then build on the firm foundations that are already in place to deliver best value to the force and all its customers, and to achieve the Chief Constable's vision of North Yorkshire Police being the leading rural police service in the country."

Updated: 12:11 Wednesday, September 25, 2002