THE man who is to become Greater Manchester Police's next Chief Constable says he is going into the role "with eyes wide open" and warned of further cuts to staffing.

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins' appointment by Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd was ratified by the Police and Crime Panel on Friday.

The 47-year-old father-of-two will take over the top job on October 24 when the incumbent Sir Peter Fahy — his current boss — retires.

Mr Hopkins said: "I feel extremely privileged to have been selected. I am driven by a desire to keep people safe.

"I am passionate about ensuring that in their darkest moment we are there, that we provided a really good quality of service and that we learn from our mistakes."

Mr Hopkins, who said he is more extroverted than Sir Peter, also explained the difficulties that lie ahead for him and the force.

He said: "In terms of the budget cuts, there is no way of sugar-coating it — they are extremely challenging and as I said in my presentation to the panel earlier, there is huge uncertainty because of the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement in November but also the police formula funding review that is going on.

"When you have an organisation that is made up of 80 per cent people there is only one thing that you can do to meet the scale of the cuts that we're facing and that is reduce the level of people in that we have in the organisation, which is why it is absolutely critical that we play our full part in the devolution agreement for Greater Manchester and that we do integrate our services at a local, at a borough and at a force-wide level to be able to reassure that we can maintain policing across Greater Manchester."

Mr Hopkins promised to meet the leaders of Greater Manchester's councils at least quarterly as part of a drive to reduce the reliance on the police as the option of last resort when other public services are not currently available.

He said only a quarter of officers' time was spent on fighting crime and three-quarters on dealing with vulnerable people like mental health patients and those who have been reported missing.

He added: "It's a challenge we are struggling to deal with at a time when we are trying to transform the organisation because of the shrinking budgets.

"One of the biggest risks we face is as we shrink, we run the risk of losing our legitimacy with the people of Greater Manchester.

"We have to be really guarded that we do not lose touch with those people we serve at a local level.

"That, for me, is the biggest challenge I will face over the next four years — maintaining that legitimacy.

"I'm going into this with my eyes wide open."

Mr Hopkins has a been in the police for 26 years, the last seven-and-a-half with GMP.