NORTH Yorkshire’s Chief Constable is facing fresh allegations after a watchdog launched its sixth probe in three months into the force he commands.

A second accusation of favouritism against Grahame Maxwell is being studied by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). It is claimed he helped his deputy’s police officer wife secure a transfer to the force.

He is alleged to have tried to approve the request from the wife of Deputy Chief Constable Adam Briggs in May 2007, shortly before Mr Maxwell took up his current post, although no transfer from the role she then held with West Yorkshire Police took place.

The IPCC is also looking into claims Mr Maxwell and Mr Briggs unfairly helped their relatives in their attempts to join North Yorkshire Police during a recruitment process which sparked so much interest that it crashed the force’s hotlines.

Mr Briggs is also being investigated after inappropriate material was allegedly discovered on his laptop.

The force was also put under the watchdog’s spotlight amid concerns they failed to properly monitor the movements of wanted sex offender Peter Chapman, who murdered teenager Ashleigh Hall in County Durham in October 2009.