THE Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police has announced his retirement, amid controversy over the Hillsborough tragedy.

Sir Norman Bettison, 56, is the most senior police officer involved with South Yorkshire police’s discredited Hillsborough operation still to be in service.

The move comes just weeks after calls for him to quit following the publication of an independent report into the tragedy in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is currently investigating Mr Bettison’s role in the cover-up.

Sir Norman has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the disaster.

But last night he announced that he would retire from his post from March 31 next year.

And last month, he inflamed families by saying that while police were to blame, fans’ behaviour on the day had not helped the situation.

He was later forced to apologise for this remark saying he was “deeply sorry that impression and slight has lingered for 23 years”.

Sir Norman, a former Chief Constable of Merseyside, said in a statement: “Recent weeks have caused me to reflect on what is best for the future of policing in West Yorkshire and I have now decided to set a firm date for my retirement of 31 March 2013.

“I hope it will enable the Independent Police Complaints Commission to fully investigate allegations that have been raised about my integrity. They need to be fairly and fully investigated and I welcome this independent and formal scrutiny.”

Calls for his resignation came from Trevor Hicks, of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, who lost two daughters in the Sheffield Wednesday football ground tragedy.

Earlier this week more than 60 people campaigned outside Leeds’ Millgarth station calling on him to be stripped of his knighthood and dismissed from the force

The protest started at 3.06pm on Saturday – the time the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, was abandoned.

Questions about Sir Norman's role in the investigation of the tragedy have dogged him as he has risen through the higher ranks of the police - most notably when there were protests from the families of those who died when he became chief constable of Merseyside in 1998.

The damning report published last month by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, laid bare a shocking cover-up which had attempted to shift the blame on to its 96 victims.

The report found that 164 police statements were altered, 116 of them to remove or alter “unfavourable” comments about the policing of the match and the unfolding disaster.

The families of the Liverpool fans killed 23 years ago said the report had vindicated them and have pledged to carry on their fight by pursuing criminal prosecutions against those who they said should “hang their heads in shame”.

Sir Norman was an off duty police inspector when he attended the game and was involved in an internal inquiry.

Sir Hugh Orde, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers said: “Sir Norman Bettison has served the public as a police officer with distinction for nearly 40 years, and at the rank of chief constable since 1998.”

Read more on this story: West Yorkshire Police chief Sir Norman Bettison's decision to stand down as Hillsborough investigations continue is right one says authority chairman