"GOOD afternoon, Mr Mayor," said the chief constable.

The greeting was innocuous enough - a perfectly polite opening for a meeting between a town's leading citizen and its most senior policeman.

But this was Middlesbrough, the mayor was Ray Mallon, and the police chief, Barry Shaw.

Yesterday's meeting was the first time the hitherto implacable foes had met since Mr Mallon became Mayor of Middlesbrough on May 3.

Just seven months earlier, the former Cleveland Police Detective Superintendent was sitting feet away from Mr Shaw as his erstwhile boss accused him of running an "empire of evil".

But yesterday's clear-the-air event passed off peacefully.

Council chief executive John Foster, who helped to broker the meeting, said last night it had been amicable and constructive.

It was a far cry from the last encounter of Messrs Shaw and Mallon.

In February, at a meeting of Cleveland Police Authority, Mr Shaw broke his silence over the long-running and costly Operation Lancet anti-corruption inquiry, effectively branding Mr Mallon as corrupt and having perverted the course of justice.

Five months later, the Crown Prosecution Service restated there was no criminal case to answer against Mr Mallon and the chief constable said he would take the matter no further.

The foundations for a truce were laid.

Police authority chairman and former Middlesbrough Borough Council leader Ken Walker has written to all of the councils served by the force, requesting opportunities for Mr Shaw to address them about the force's progress.

Disquiet at rising crime and financial demands on council tax payers is thought to have prompted that approach, which led to yesterday's meeting at Middlesbrough Town Hall.

Mr Shaw will address the town's councillors at their next full council meeting one week from today. It was agreed yesterday that, together with the public, they will be able to ask questions on policing in the borough - but not about Lancet or other controversies which dogged the force for five years.

Mr Foster said: "All parties are committed to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in Middlesbrough and want to work together to achieve this."

Neither Mr Shaw, Mr Mallon or Coun Walker could be reached for comment last night.