One of the West’s most senior policemen was yesterday handed the task of protecting Britain’s crisis-hit borders.

Wiltshire Chief Constable Brian Moore will lead a new UK Border Force, and be tasked with restoring confidence in the system after the latest scandal.

The troubled UK Border Agency is to be split in two after hundreds of thousands of people were let into the country without being checked against a Home Office watch list, the Government said last night.

It is a major vote of confidence in Mr Moore that he has been picked to Home Secretary Theresa May has decided he is the man to clear up the mess. He will take up his new role at the end of this month. It means Wiltshire Police need to recruit a new chief constable and the new top man or woman could be the first in the country to be appointed by an elected police commissioner.

Deputy Chief Constable Patrick Geenty will do the role in an acting capacity until a new appointment is made by Wiltshire’s elected Police and Crime Commissioner, who will be elected on November 15. this year.

Wiltshire Police Authority chairman Christopher Hoare said he was sure Mr Moore would be a success, after his notable achievements in Wiltshire.

He said: “Brian became Wiltshire’s Chief Constable in January 2008 and under his leadership Wiltshire has become the safest county in England and Wales.”