ONE of Hampshire's most senior police officers will be spending the last year of his service in war-torn Iraq.

Despite only having a year to go before his retirement Assistant Chief Constable Colin Smith has opted to take up a vital role in the region after being promoted to Deputy Chief Constable.

He will be advising political leaders on how to rebuild the policing service of the country and will be based at the British Consulate in Basra.

Although his year-long secondment begins next month Mr Smith, who was born and grew up in Hampshire, is currently in Iraq on a fact-finding mission.

Mr Smith, 53, a graduate of Southampton University with a degree in modern history and politics, will end his police service following the completion of his tour of duty in the war-ravaged country.

Mr Smith is currently in charge of specialist operations in the county having arrived in 1996 as a Chief Superintendent.

Before that he was a senior investigating officer for major crime in London that covered drug-related crime and the 1995 Brixton riots.

Taking over as temporary Assistant Chief Constable for Hampshire's specialist operations is Steve Watts. Former head of CID for the constabulary, Mr Watts paid tribute to Mr Smith's work in the role. "Colin Smith leaves a legacy of a highly professional and committed specialist operations department and I intend to build on that."