HOWARD Cracknell, acting assistant chief constable of Suffolk Constabulary, is to retire next month after more than three decades service with the force.

HOWARD Cracknell, acting assistant chief constable of Suffolk Constabulary, is to retire next month after more than three decades service with the force.

The 52-year-old will officially retire from his post on February 14 after 31 years.

Mr Cracknell, who lives with his wife Gwen in the Stowmarket area, said: "It has been demanding but very rewarding and anything that I have achieved has been because of the people that work around me.

"This has been my life for 31 years and I have worked with some great and talented people. But I'm sure a new chapter will open up."

Mr Cracknell, started his police career in 1972. He was a Pc at Lowestoft for two years and then moved to Ipswich and was village bobby in Copdock.

Mr Cracknell later moved to Bury St Edmunds before taking up a community relations post in west Suffolk.

After two years, Mr Cracknell moved to Mildenhall as a patrol sergeant before returning to Ipswich.

He moved to Newmarket in 1986 as an inspector, before taking up a post in the training department at force HQ in Martlesham.

Mr Cracknell worked as a superintendent in Newmarket, and was operations manager for the western area and later for Ipswich.

Mr Cracknell became Chief Superintendent of the eastern area in 1999 and was appointed acting assistant chief constable, when former chief constable Paul Scott-Lee announced his departure to West Midlands Police last September.