Council bosses have launched a search for a new fire chief for Cumbria after ending an agreement that saw the post shared with Cheshire.

The person appointed to the newly-advertised £106,000-a-year job of chief fire officer for Cumbria will be responsible for providing strategic leadership for the area's fire and rescue service.

The move comes just 12 months after bosses within Cumbria County Council opted against a dedicated chief in favour of sharing the expertise of Paul Hancock, leader of the fire service in Cheshire.

A spokesman for CCC confirmed that Mr Hancock will continue to provide fire service leadership for Cumbria until June, after which the year-old arrangement will end.

They added: "At their recent meeting the council’s chief officer panel agreed to recruit a full-time, permanent chief fire officer, ending the arrangement with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service that started in March 2016, which has seen the two services share a single chief fire officer.

"The shared officer arrangement has worked well over the last 12 months, but increasing demands on the chief fire officer role as a result of local and national changes mean it is now necessary to appoint on a full-time basis.

"The planned transition will see the current shared arrangement with Cheshire continue until the end of June 2017, by which time it is anticipated that a full-time chief fire officer for Cumbria will have been appointed."

Cumbria had a chief fire officer in place until last March when the move to a new shared position was announced.

Council decision-makers said at the time it would help save money - with the council paying £60,000 towards Mr Hancock's dual role - as well as harnessing his expertise and knowledge of Cumbria.

But they now say increased responsibilities require a dedicated position-holder for the area.

These are said to include additional "joint working" with police and ambulance services, implementing safe and well assessments - visits designed to help vulnerable people live independently in Cumbria - and chairing the Cumbria Resilience Forum.

The appointee will also lead the service as the a new regime of fire and rescue service inspections is rolled out nationwide.

Jim Onions, who previously held the role of chief fire officer for Cumbria, took retirement in March 2016.