Kent police commissioner Ann Barnes has today said there will be an announcement about who is to be her youth czar "before too long".

It is now close to three months since interviews were carried out for the job after the original appointment of teenager Paris Brown to the post unravelled.

The teenager quit just six days into the job when it emerged she had posted offensive remarks on Twitter.

Mrs Barnes was appearing before MPs on the home affairs select committee who are investigating the work of crime commissioners.

The issue of why there had been no announcement was raised by Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless.

He asked why it was taking so long to confirm the appointment, given that interviews for the job took place in November last year.

In reply, Mrs Barnes said: "Because I am waiting for him or her to negotiate a start date.

"It has been quite complicated for various reasons that I am not going to go into here. There will be an announcement before very long and I am looking forward to my youth commissioner working very well."

Paris Brown, from Sheppey, quit in April last year after her Twitter comments emerged.

It later emerged there had been no vetting of her social media as part of the recruitment process.

A subsequent independent inquiry commissioned by Mrs Barnes said the recruitment process had not been flawed and was in accordance with existing policies.

In other comments today, Mrs Barnes denied the relationship between the crime commissioner and the chief constable was "too cosy".

She also defended the appointment of two of her campaign aides on short term contracts when she was elected in November 2012.

Peter Carroll, her campaign manager and Howard Cox have now left her team.