A detective who began his career working as an officer in Accrington has been appointed detective superintendent for Lancashire's south division. 

Detective superintendent Mark Haworth-Oates will have overall responsibility for criminal investigations across south division, which covers the areas of Preston, Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire.

Det Supt Haworth-Oates joined Lancashire Constabulary aged 20 and has worked in a variety of roles – in both uniform and as a detective, honing his craft as a PC over at Accrington before recognising that the detective world was the route he wanted to pursue.

He worked his way through the ranks in a variety of different roles including in response, criminal investigations, public protection, counter terrorism and most recently in the force major investigation team.

During his career so far, he has worked on numerous high-profile cases, including the murder of Edward 'Eddie' Forrester in Blackpool in 2023.

Last month, a man was jailed for life for murdering Eddie and dismembering his body.

Det Supt Haworth-Oates has also been the senior investigating officer on a number of homicide investigations in south division in recent years, so knows the division well.

He said: “My proudest achievement in policing so far has been in the role of senior investigating officer for several murder investigations.

"Getting justice for the victim and their family is my motivation, as well as ensuring that those responsible for such horrendous offences can no longer be a risk to others.

I’m looking forward now to working in south division with an overview on all criminal investigations and ensuring that as a division we deliver on keeping people safe and having pride in the investigations that we deliver for all victims of crime.”