The successor to ousted Sussex chief constable Paul Whitehouse promised a fresh start for the force as he was appointed to his role.

Ken Jones, 49, deputy chief constable of Somerset and Avon Police, who was named as the new chief constable last night, will take up his post early in the new year.

Mr Jones, who is married with a 14-year-old daughter, was presented with the Queen's Police Medal at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday for his work co-ordinating the technical side of nationwide operations on Millennium night.

Minutes after he was selected from a shortlist of six applicants he said he would make neighbourhood policing a priority when he took the reins.

He said: "I'm delighted and privileged to take on the challenge of leading Sussex Police, a force with a strong reputation built over many years of policing with consent of its communities.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know Sussex better, meeting and working with my new colleagues in the force and the police authority and with our many partners across Sussex.

"I will not just be meeting and talking to them, I will be listening too.

"This will be a demanding post and I've got a steep learning curve but I bring to Sussex a strong commitment to neighbourhood policing and a sincere wish to build on the good work being done across the force."

Mr Jones left grammar school and joined South Yorkshire Police in Sheffield as a constable in 1971. He was a beat officer and detective until 1982 when he went to Sheffield University to study for a degree in urban studies.

From 1986 to 1988 he worked in Hong Kong investigating corruption before returning to Sheffield as a sergeant. He was made an inspector in 1990 and moved to Bristol in 1996.

In the same year he was a Fulbright scholar, studying the role of private policing in the United States.

He was the police's top nuclear specialist until last year.

He has no former links with the county but in December last year was appointed to lead the Police Complaints Authority inquiry into the force's investigation of the death of Jay Abatan, who died in January 1999 outside the Ocean Rooms nightclub in Brighton.

Yesterday, an authority panel spent ten hours interviewing six candidates drawn from 12 people who applied for the £105,000-a-year post.

One of the other applicants was Kent's deputy chief constable, Bob Ayling, who led the investigation which resulted in Mr Whitehouse's downfall.

Suspected drug dealer James Ashley was killed by a police marksman during a raid on his St Leonards home in 1998. He was naked and unarmed.

The Kent inquiry resulted in criminal charges being brought against five officers on the operation. All were later cleared but the force was accused of corporate failure.

Mr Whitehouse was suspended for three weeks in March 1999 for publicly backing his officers.

In June, The Argus revealed two of those involved in planning the raid had been promoted weeks after being cleared of misconduct charges, with their pay backdated three years.

Mr Whitehouse insisted the officers were due for promotion at the time of their suspensions.

But Home Secretary David Blunkett faxed the police authority demanding it take immediate action to restore public confidence.

Mr Whitehouse ceased all operational duties on July 2. He officially retired on September 24 and receives a £60,000-a-year pension.

David Rogers, chairman of the Sussex Police Authority, said: "We see this as a fresh start and are determined to make sure it is a success both for Mr Jones and the entire force."