A SENIOR Darlington police officer is leaving to take up a new post in the South.

Superintendent Phil Aspey, 42, who has headed Darlington division for two years, will become a leading member of the Superintendents' Association of England and Wales.

He is one of three full-time appointees to the association, which has 1,300 members.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have done with the association and hope in future to contribute to the development of improved conditions of service for superintendents," said Supt Aspey.

This appointment is the latest development in Supt Aspey's three-year involvement with the association.

He was voted Durham Branch chairman, became district secretary, then a member of the national executive.

Supt Aspey joined Darlington police force as a probationer in 1977.

He attended Bramshill Police College, Hampshire, in 1981 and was promoted to Detective Sergeant a year later. He became an inspector in 1983 and a chief inspector four years later.

After four years on secondment to the Home Office, where he was involved in a review of national police training, he took over as head of Darlington force's training department on his promotion to superintendent.

Supt Aspey and his wife, Wendy, who is seconded to National Police Training in Durham, will divide their time between their home in mid-Durham and the association's offices in Pangbourne, Berkshire.