THE chairman of Cleveland Police Authority has decided to step down after spending the past year helping turn the force's troubled image around.

Magistrate Ted Cox took over the reins when Cleveland Police was in the middle of a financial crisis and staff morale was at an all-time low.

He now believes the force has a sound financial footing following a mammoth effort to address the multi-million deficit it faced following the discovery of a £7.3m hole in its budget plans.

Mr Cox took over from Ken Walker, whose stormy reign ended when he was defeated in a vote to choose authority candidates by Middlesbrough Council's Labour group last year.

"When I was elected as chairman last year, I made it very clear that I saw my main tasks as delivering a financial recovery programme and starting to address the fundamental organisational issues which need to be resolved in order to ensure that, in the future, we can make the best use of resources and continue to maximise front-line policing," said Mr Cox.

"Our financial recovery plan is on target, we are making real progress in modernising the way we manage our affairs, and, in terms of delivering services to the public."

Chief Constable Sean Price said: "Ted has given unstintingly of his time and expertise to help steer this force through a difficult period with professionalism second to none."

A new chairman will be selected by the authority on June 6.