Leave chaps on time in area of France (10)
I believe the answer is:
department
'area of france' is the definition.
(type of administrative division in France)
'leave chaps on time' is the wordplay.
'leave' becomes 'depart' (departing is a kind of leaving**).
'chaps' becomes 'men' (I've seen this before).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'time' becomes 't'.
'depart'+'men'+'t'='DEPARTMENT'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for department that I've seen before include "group of civil servants" , "Division of a large organisation" , "Sector" , "Organisational division" , "Moselle, perhaps" .)