Barbara Wilding is the fifth woman chief constable in Britain

Barbara Wilding takes over the top job at South Wales Police from Sir Anthony Burden, who has retired.

Ms Wilding was formerly a deputy assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan Police.

Married with two daughters, she started her career with the States Police in Jersey before being transferred to the Metropolitan Police in 1971.

Her three-decade career has also seen her work as an Assistant Chief Constable of Kent Police.

Her most recent role at the Met gave her operational responsibility for royalty and diplomatic protection.

The job also encompassed overseeing security at Heathrow Airport and Westminster just as the UK saw a rise in terror alerts.

In 2000, she was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in the New Year Honours.

She becomes only the fifth woman to become a chief constable in Britain.

South Wales Police covers an area of around 812 square miles, including the cities of Swansea and Cardiff and the south Wales Valleys.

The area is home to about 1,225,900 people.