A NEW top cop has been appointed for Tendring.

Chief Inspector Lily Benbow took started her new post as the district’s new commander last week.

With 28 years of service in the Metropolitan Police behind her, she is no stranger to dealing with difficult incidents, including the 7/7 bombings in London.

The daughter of a dairy farmer from Tipperary, Lily moved to London on her own to study hospitality at age 20.

But life took her on a different path and in 1991 she became a constable with the Met, covering Harrow Road.

Settled in the heart of the carnival route, Lily estimates she’s policed around 15 years’ worth of the Notting Hill Carnival.

She then joined the Territorial Support Unit and oversaw the policing of central London.

During the late 1990s she also gained a BSc in Policing from the University of Portsmouth.

In the aftermath of the tube bombings on July 7, 2005, Lily was appointed a family liaison officer to five victims’ families.

Lily policed a number of other areas in London and her last role before transferring to Essex was as a detective chief inspector for safeguarding partnerships.

She said: “Tendring is a complex district with a lot of different needs, and I’m here to find out how we can make it a safe and enjoyable place to live and work.

“You have so many different communities here and, in a way, I feel like I was meant to be here.”