A civil servant who began her career in banking has been appointed as the next chief executive of the Crown Prosecution Service. Rebecca Lawrence is currently chief executive of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in London. She will join the CPS in September, taking over from interim chief executive Paul Staff, an accountant by profession, who is retiring after 28 years at the CPS.

Director of Public Prosecutions Max Hill QC said: 'This is the most important appointment I will make as DPP, and I am delighted that Rebecca Lawrence has accepted the role. She will bring the exceptional business, management and leadership skills essential to successfully run an organisation of the size and scale of the CPS.'

Lawrence has 20 years of experience in senior roles in Whitehall. After starting her career in the banking sector she joined the Treasury in 1994, leading on subjects including health spending and climate change policy. In 2010 she moved to work on counter-terrorism, first as director of the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism in the Home Office, and later as director, terrorism and allied matters, for the Association of Chief Police Officers.