A NORTH-EAST police chief is one of five senior officers shortlisted to take charge of the high profile force serving Northern Ireland.

Durham Police Chief Constable Jon Stoddart is among the candidates to succeed Sir Hugh Orde, as head of the Northern Ireland Police Service (PSNI), the new name for the former Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Sir Hugh announced earlier this year that he intended to quit as PSNI Chief Constable within months amid speculation he was favourite to become head of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

The five-strong shortlist of candidates includes Mr Stoddart, his counterparts as chiefs of Merseyside, Leicestershire and West Mercia forces, Bernard Hogan-Howe, Matt Baggott and Paul West, plus Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Interviews for the Northern Ireland post, which carries an annual salary of £183,954, take place in mid-August.

Mr Stoddart is understood to have circulated an internal memo at police headquarters, at Aykley Heads, Durham, reassuring colleagues it is, "business as usual", stressing he remains "fully committed" to the force.

A career policeman, Newcastle-born Mr Stoddart graduated from Northumbria University in 1982 and joined the local force.

During 16 years with Northumbria Police he served in both uniform and CID, including working with the former Chief Constable, now Lord John Stevens, who went on to become Britain's top policeman, as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Stoddart's only stint away from the North-East was when he was appointed assistant chief constable in Lincolnshire, in 1999, but he returned to the region to become Durham's deputy chief constable in February 2003.

He was promoted to the top post in Durham in December 2005, after predecessor Paul Garvin stood down, but Mr Stoddart's appointment was initially only on a 'temporary' basis amid speculation of possible force mergers.

The final appointment of the Northern Ireland chief's post is only expected to be confirmed later in the year, following Ministerial approval.