The BBC's Jane Peel reports on the third DPP

He will replace Dame Barbara Mills as head of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales from 1 November.

Dame Barbara announced in May she would be stepping down early from the post, leaving a successor to implement a planned restructuring of the service based on 42 regional areas.

Her announcement came just weeks before publication of the Glidewell Report, which attacked the service's record on efficiency and effectiveness.

Appointment predicted

Mr Calvert-Smith, 53, had been tipped as a likely candidate to replace Dame Barbara.

Currently chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, he has regularly prosecuted in homicide, organised crime and fraud cases - including the prosecution against footballer Bruce Grobbelaar, who was cleared of match-fixing charges.

He will be charged with overseeing a radical overhaul of the CPS, the body responsible for prosecuting offenders.

Mr Calvert-Smith will be the third person to head the service in its 12-year existence. The first Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Allan Green, resigned after allegedly being spotted kerb-crawling in King's Cross in London.

The Attorney General's Office said a total of 18 people had submitted applications for the �116,000-a-year post and Mr Calvert-Smith was selected from a shortlist of five.