RIVAL gang members will be brought together for face-to-face talks under plans being considered by Greater Manchester's new chief constable.

Peter Fahy, who starts his £168,000-a-year job on Monday, said he was prepared to use `imaginative' and `high risk' tactics to tackle gun crime.

In an exclusive interview with the MEN, Mr Fahy said GMP had suffered `enormous upheaval' following the death of his predecessor Michael Todd and he aims to bring a new focus to the force.

The 49-year-old father of four also revealed how he might have strayed into a life of crime as a young man growing up in the East End of London - but was saved by inspirational school teachers.

Speaking of his plans, Mr Fahy said he would support an initiative to bring gang members together for `mediation'. A similar scheme has been used in the West Midlands.

"You are often talking about a group of people who are on the far edge of society and if you are to impact on them you have to be prepared to use imaginative and what may seem high risk approaches both in terms of enforcing the law and dealing with the underlying causes.

"GMP has made some important strides forward on this issue and some of the work, often led by members of the local community and families of victims, is outstanding.”

Mr Fahy, who has a reputation for being outspoken, said he will maintain a high-profile style of leadership.

During his time in Cheshire, he made headlines for calling for the legal drinking limit to be raised to 21 after father of three Garry Newlove was kicked to death by drunken teenagers outside his home in Warrington.

“I think there is a new breed of chief constable with that visibility and making the link with the frontline is very important,” he said.

“It is something I have always done – turning up at police stations and asking bobbies what they are doing. You go out there, talk to people, see stuff, and get new ideas.”

Mr Fahy described his tough upbringing as the son of an ‘Irish navvy’ and a dinner lady and how his parents encouraged him to study hard while some of his schoolmates became involved in car crime.

“My route out of that was education and getting to university,” he said.

Mr Fahy’s appointment came after an exhaustive selection process following the death of Mr Todd on a Welsh mountainside in October.

'I could have been a villain' - Chief Constable Peter Fahy