THE police chief who dealt with the Selby train disaster has been appointed to a North-East crime-busting role.

Forty-six-year-old Gary Barnett is a chief superintendent with North Yorkshire Police, the force he joined in 1978 after he graduated from university.

Soon he will take up the role of Assistant Chief Constable in County Durham.

Mr Barnett has gained a reputation for dealing with major incidents.

His introduction to disaster management came in the mid-1990s, when he led the operation that dealt with an air crash near Dunkeswick, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, in which 12 people died.

In late 2000, he headed a taskforce that responded to one of the worst flood threats ever to face York.

On that occasion, the River Ouse rose by more than 18ft and came within two inches of reaching levels that would have submerged thousands of properties and put much of the city centre under water.

Months later, in February 2001, Mr Barnett was the senior ground commander in the wake of the train crash on the East Coast Main Line at Great Heck, which claimed ten lives and left 70 injured.

His experiences earned him an invitation to join a national team of police officers who advise on handling major disasters.

Mr Barnett was educated at St Peter's School, in York, and graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in psychology.

He said: "While I was at university, I met a police sergeant on the same course who suggested the service had something to offer me. I thought 'Why not?' and applied."

His first three years were spent on the beat in Harrogate and, when he came out in the top 200 in national sergeants' examinations, he applied and was accepted for the service's special course at the National Police College, at Bramshill, Hampshire.

After he undertook a wide range of operational duties across the force, he went to York as operations commander in 1997 and, two years later, took charge of the same division after promotion to chief superintendent.

He has been with the force's corporate development department since February and was recently awarded a postgraduate diploma in criminology from Cambridge University.

He said: "I am really excited and looking forward to getting on with my new job. Durham has a reputation as a force that is second-to-none and I will be doing my level best to make sure it stays that way."

Mr Barnett and his wife, Diane, have two sons, Martin, 19, and Tom, 18. His sons have both played rugby union for Yorkshire. Mr Barnett supports York City Football Club, where he has been match commander on a number of occasions.