Councillor and civil servant to support Commissioner

Olly Martins said his assistant and deputy commissioners would help “strengthen the links between the people of Bedfordshire and the police”.

Lawyer Tafheen Sharif, 30, is a councillor in Luton and was recently named Young Councillor of the Year by the Local Government Information Unit. She will work four days a week as deputy commissioner if approved by the Police and Crime Panel, appointed to hold the commissioner to account.

Home Office civil servant Simon Bullock, assistant commissioner, originally threw his hat into the ring for the Labour PCC candidate race, but withdrew in April because his job was politically restricted.

The pair have opted to remain on their current salaries – £36,000 and £55,000 respectively – which Mr Martins, who will be paid £70,000 a year, said would mean his office costing less to run than the now-defunct police authority.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted to have two people of such high calibre at my side.”