THE chief constable of North Yorkshire is lucky to have held on to his job, his predecessor has said.

Della Cannings, who left the post in 2007 which was later filled by Grahame Maxwell, has expressed her surprise he did not get the sack following a disciplinary hearing into how he sought preferential treatment for a relative during a force recruitment drive.

Ms Cannings, who was North Yorkshire’s chief constable between 2002 and 2007 before being appointed as the new chairman of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust last year, said: “Obviously the disciplinary hearing was held with the utmost of integrity and professionalism.

“However I am surprised that someone who has been found guilty of gross misconduct still has a job. Obviously any disciplinary hearing is serious and gross misconduct is high-up in those stakes.

“In an organisation where the leader has admitted that they have done something such as this must therefore raise a level of distrust and uncertainty in that organisation.”

Asked whether Mr Maxwell should step down from his position, Ms Cannings said: “That is a decision that Mr Maxwell must make for himself.

“However I have yet to see him make an apology in person – just in a statement – which maybe is something that should be addressed.”

Ms Canning spoke following calls from Labour MP for York Central, Hugh Bayley, Coun James Alexander, the leader of City of York Council, and Tory MP Julian Smith for the police chief to resign.

Mr Maxwell received a final written warning for trying to help a relative get a job against huge competition from other applicants.

He avoided the sack despite claiming, at one stage, that he could intervene in the process simply because he was the force's man in charge.

Mr Maxwell admitted discreditable behaviour amounting to gross misconduct, and has since apologised unreservedly in a personal statement.

But he was heavily criticised by the Independent Police Complains Commission for initially defending his actions by claiming "he could do what he wanted because he was the Chief Constable”.

The case stemmed from the recruitment campaign last year in which the force's switchboard was overwhelmed by more than 200,000 callers interested in 60 jobs.

Mr Maxwell, who hit the headlines after he was filmed manning a jobs hotline himself, was accused of advising a member of his extended family and a relative of his former deputy Adam Briggs on ways to get round the logjam.