A FORMER Grange man has completed his first week as the Divisional Commander of the Sovereign Base (SBA) in Dhekelia, Cyprus.

Educated at Heversham Grammar School, Jonathan Ward arrives in the SBA after 30 years of service in the Merseyside Police which saw him rise through the ranks to Divisional Commander and travel all over Europe with both Liverpool and Everton football clubs as the police commander.

The 51-year-old is a trained firearms commander and hostage negotiator.

Despite the obvious differences between working as a police commander on Merseyside and in the SBAs, he said the overall objective of police work will always stay the same.

He explained: “The challenges are of course very different to those that I faced in Liverpool but the principles and philosophies of police work are the same the world over. I will be working with our key stakeholders and those living within the local community to keep everyone safe and secure.”