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Notts County have injected some much-needed steel into their defence with the signing of Graeme Lee.

The 31-year-old former Hartlepool and Doncaster promotion winner was at Meadow Lane today to complete his move from Bradford City on a two-year deal and will link up with his new colleagues when they begin pre-season training tomorrow.

Despite having a year remaining on his contract Lee - a key figure in Bradford's promotion push last season - was reluctantly made available for transfer at the end of last season as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

And County boss Ian McParland said: "Graeme's a leader, a vastly experienced defender at this level, and we're absolutely delighted he has agreed to join us.

"I met with him and his agent last week and they were obviously pleased with what they heard from us because this deal has moved very swiftly."

County kept just eight clean-sheets in all competitions last season and McParland added: "Although there's been a lot of talk about our need to bring in players who will score more goals for us - and rightly so - our defensive record also left a lot to be desired.

"Signing Graeme will certainly help in that respect and I can see him becoming a very reliable and popular figure in the centre of our defence."

Middlesbrough-born, Lee has amassed more than 400 appearances during his career, turning out for Hartlepool, Sheffield Wednesday, Doncaster and Bradford, and during a loan spell with Shrewsbury.

The arrival of Lee means that County will have four new players reporting for duty tomorrow and McParland is on the brink of boosting that tally to five.