FOUR top cops are in the running to replace Sir Willie Rae as Strathclyde Chief Constable.

FOUR top cops are in the running to replace Sir Willie Rae as Strathclyde Chief Constable.

The Evening Times can reveal the names of three of those competing for the £161,000-a-year job commanding 7500 officers.

They are the chief constables of Central Scotland, Grampian and Tayside - Andrew Cameron, Colin McKerracher and John Vine.

The fourth officer is understood to be a senior commander from London's Metropolitan Police, but his identity is being kept secret.

Two of the three applicants from Scotland have a wealth of experience in policing west Scotland.

Mr McKerracher, 52, was brought up in the Glasgow area, joined the former City of Glasgow Police in 1974, and climbed the ranks of Strathclyde Police to deputy chief constable.

The qualified lawyer left to take the top job in Aberdeen-based Grampian in 2004 and has since been widely tipped to return to Strathclyde to head up Scotland's biggest force, which looks after 2.3million people.

Mr Cameron, 54, started as a constable in Ayrshire in 1972 and rose to assistant chief constable of Strathclyde before leaving in 2000 to take up command of the Stirling-based Central force.

In the late 1990s he led an overhaul of Strathclyde's CID department and also a restructuring of the region's police divisions.

An appointment of Mr Cameron or Mr McKerracher would be seen as following in the business-like footsteps of 57-year-old Mr Rae, the low-profile chief who retires in October after six years in charge.

However, Mr Vine could be a different kettle of fish.

The respected and outspoken Yorkshireman came to Scotland in 2000 after holding several senior roles in northern England.

He led the policing for the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005 and has been a high-profile figure both in his role as national road safety spokesman and because of his controversial statements.

He criticised Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson over speeding, highlighted sexism in the police and recently called for heroin to be made available on prescription to cut drug-related crime.

But Mr Vine, 51, who has a law degree, apologised after sparking fury with a joke at an after-dinner speech about young suicide bombers, which ended: "Kids blow up so quickly these days."

All the candidates are expected to be interviewed in September.

As revealed by the Evening Times in June, delays in the recruitment process mean Strathclyde could be without a head between October and Christmas unless the new chief constable can arrange an early leaving date.