NORTH Yorkshire's chief constable today apologised to special constables who received letters confirming their reduced status on the eighth anniversary of the death of fellow 'special' Glenn Goodman.

Special Constabulary chiefs in Selby and Tadcaster condemned the letters from David Kenworthy as "highly insensitive" after they dropped through their letterboxes on Wednesday - exactly eight years to the day since Mr Goodman was gunned down by Paul "Mad Dog" Magee.

Ray Dyson, divisional commandant for Selby and Tadcaster, said: "To say the timing was bad is an understatement - I'm disgusted."

Mr Dyson revealed that he switched Mr Goodman to the fateful Saturday night shift on June 7 1992 when he was killed on the A64 near Tadcaster by Magee, who has just been released from prison under the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement.

He said: "Glenn wanted to work the Friday night shift, but agreed to switch to Saturday because I had a full quota for Friday. I was section officer at the time and Glenn was in my section."

Mr Kenworthy's letter said that due to re-organisation, certain senior ranks in the special constabulary would cease to exist from the end of this month.

It enclosed a certificate in recognition of their service and thanked them for the valuable contribution they had made as managers.

Another divisional commandant, who did not wish to be named, said: "To receive a letter on the eighth anniversary of Glenn's death telling me I would be demoted back to a special constable was highly insensitive and shows a lack of thought."

Mr Kenworthy told the Evening Press: "I am extremely sorry if it caused offence. I hadn't linked the day to the anniversary of Mr Goodman's death and I meant no sleight to anybody."

The special chiefs also hit out at the scrapping of the ranks of divisional commandant and divisional officer, which they said would put more work on already overstretched regular officers.

Mr Dyson said: "The letter says we can apply for supervisory vacancies when they occur, but to ask us to apply for jobs we're already doing is an insult."

Both said they were now considering their futures as specials.

Mr Kenworthy said: "When we reduced the force from seven divisions to three, we had to reduce the management structure of the special constabulary to match that."