SIR Norman Bettison’s resignation as West Yorkshire Chief Constable was welcomed by a local MP last night.

But Dewsbury MP Simon Reevell insisted it should not deflect away from ongoing inquiries into the officer’s role in the Hillsborough tragedy and its aftermath.

And he also warned there should be no “cosy” deals over pensions.

Sir Norman resigned yesterday, shortly before a special meeting of the West Yorkshire Police Authority called to discuss the latest controversy over the Hillsborough tragedy.

He said his position had become a “distraction to policing” in West Yorkshire due to the controversy over the 1989 disaster in which in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

It had previously been announced that he would leave the force in April next year.

Sir Norman has been under growing pressure since the Hillsborough Independent Panel report was published and he is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

His resignation means Sir Norman cannot face internal disciplinary action by the police service. But the IPCC stressed they could take criminal action if deemed necessary.

A spokesman said: “We note from Sir Norman’s public statement that he intends to co-operate with our investigations.

“It should be noted we can and, in this case, will investigate both criminal offences and misconduct matters after an officer has retired or resigned as it is in the public interest to do so.

“Retirement or resignation precludes any internal misconduct sanction as once an individual leaves the police service there is no opportunity to take disciplinary action.

“Retirement or resignation does not prevent criminal prosecution should the investigation identify criminal offences, including misconduct in a public office.”

Former police authority chairman Mark Burns-Williamson, Labour’s West Yorkshire PCC candidate, said: “I welcome Sir Norman Bettison’s resignation. It is the right decision.”

“Yesterday I said that he should go immediately in light of the newallegations in parliament earlier this week, because the situation had become too much of a distraction for the policing of West Yorkshire, and the public’s confidence in the police was at stake.”

He was referring to Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle’s claims in the Commons that Sir Norman had helped to “concoct” South Yorkshire Police’s version of events.

Another candidate for the Crime Commission post, Kirklees councillor Andrew Marchington, condemned the MP for bringing her information out in the Commons.

He said: “It shouldn’t have taken 23 years for the families of Hillsborough to know the truth about what happened.

“There is now an IPCC investigation and the Commons was not the place for statement to be read out.

“They should have been passed to the IPCC.There is a due and proper process to follow.”

Speaking of Sir Norman’s departure he added: “You can’t operate effectively as chief constable if there are questions to be answered.”

His views were echoed by Dewsbury MP Mr Reevell who added: “Whilst welcoming this as the right decision, it is important for public confidence that senior police officers don’t escape the conclusion of any ongoing inquiry simply by resigning from the force.

“It is also important that there are no ‘cosy’ deals about pay-offs or pensions before the Police and Crime Commissioner takes office in less than three weeks time.”

In a statement issued through the authority yesterday, Sir Norman said he had never blamed the fans for the tragedy.

Sir Norman said: “First, and foremost, the Hillsborough tragedy 23 years ago left 96 families bereaved and countless others injured and affected by it. I have always felt the deepest compassion and sympathy for the families, and I recognise their longing to understand exactly what happened on that April afternoon.

“I have never blamed the fans for causing the tragedy.

“The suggestion that I would say to a passing acquaintance that I was deployed as part of a team tasked to ‘concoct a false story of what happened’, is both incredible and wrong. That isn’t what I was tasked to do, and I did not say that.”

He said the police authority and some of the candidates in the forthcoming PCC elections made it clear that they wanted him to go.

He added: “I do so, not because of any allegations about the past, but because I share the view that this has become a distraction to policing in West Yorkshire now and in the future.”

Margaret Aspinall, chairman of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, welcomed the announcement, but said Sir Norman’s pension should be frozen while the investigation takes place into the police cover-up highlighted by the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

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