Bradford has been assigned a new top police officer under a shake-up of the county's commanders.

Assistant Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell will oversee day-to-day policing in the Bradford district and across the rest of the county under a newly-formed, all encompassing role.

Before this month's reorganisation, West Yorkshire had been split into two policing divisions with one commander overseeing the eastern side and another taking responsibility for the west, including Bradford.

The Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn announced he had axed the dual roles and incorporated them into a single Territorial Operations post, governing daily policing matters across the whole county.

Mr Cramphorn said he hoped this would allow the new commander to respond more effectively to individual problems which arose, such as gun crime, crack dealing or robberies.

The new appointment came under a re-shuffle of roles within the force's top brass. It also saw ACC Greg Wilkinson - formerly Bradford's most senior officer - taking responsibility for developing partnerships between the police and other groups across the county.

ACC Maxwell had previously headed West Yorkshire Police's Operational Support, which incorporates its quick-response disorder teams, firearms units and the police helicopter.

Mr Cramphorn said: "The changes, which come into effect this month, reflect the policing style we need to adopt in order to deliver results in the years ahead."

He said the new Territorial Operations post would allow the commander to monitor and respond to any problem which arose throughout the county.

"That will help when dealing with the new demands of one-off initiatives such as street crime, gun crime or crack cocaine."

And he added: "Our ability to provide effective front-line policing continues to be of prime importance, never more so than in these days of international unrest. Therefore the role of Operational Support remains unchanged."