South Yorkshire’s police and crime panel appointed an interim commissioner yesterday following the belated resignation of Shaun Wright over the Rotherham abuse scandal.

Mr Wright finally resigned as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) earlier this week in following the publication last month of the Jay Report into widespread child sexual abuse in Rotherham.

Among those who threw their hats into the ring for the job were Tracy Cheetham, Mr Wright’s deputy, who stepped down from her post earlier this month in protest at his refusal to resign.

But the panel, which oversees the work of the PCC, gave the temporary job to the South Yorkshire PCC office’s chief finance officer Steve Pick.

Yesterday’s meeting at Rotherham Town Hall triggered the formal by-election process. The poll will be held on October 30.