MOVE over James Herriot and Gervase Phinn - there is a new name on the North Yorkshire literary block.

Mike Pannett, a former bobby who spent ten years working his Ryedale patch, has written the first in a series of books based on his on-duty adventures and escapades.

Now Then Lad... was released today, with a book signing event taking place at Waterstone's, in High Ousegate, York, tomorrow.

The book has already made it into the biography section of Waterstone's website, with pre-release orders pushing it into the Top Ten for new releases.

Mike said the book acted as a modern-day counterpart to Nicholas Rhea's Constable On The Hill - which inspired TV's Heartbeat - while including some of the animal antics that proved so popular in Herriot's tales.

"The response has been phenomenal," he said. "It's great for Yorkshire, as it's the strong characters and sense of community that shines through."

Mike was born in Crayke, near Easingwold, but moved to London in 1988 when he joined the police.

"As a country lad, I decided I'd go to the big city," he said. "But I'm a huge fly fisherman and love the countryside, so in 1997 I packed my bags and came home to North Yorkshire."

He went from combating Battersea drug gangs and gun crime in Croydon to being a rural beat bobby and wildlife officer.

He said: "My main role was as a rural officer, which got me on the farms and meant me working in the beautiful parts of North Yorkshire.

"In that time I met some very colourful characters - and that's what this first book is based around."

He left the force in 2007, and now lives in a village just outside York with his wife and three children.

Mike was the first North Yorkshire wildlife officer, taking the role on top of his duties as a rural bobby.

His work with animals - which included dealing with sheep rustling, illegal bird trapping, the importation of restricted animals, snares being set incorrectly and badger baiting - had played a part in Now Then Lad...

"Some stories in the book are very serious and sad, and will make people cry," he said. "But there's also laugh-out-loud funny stories in there."

The 44-year-old is no stranger to the limelight, having starred in the BBC television programme Country Cops in 2005. It was that experience that prompted him to start jotting his memories down.

He will be signing copies of his book and talking to readers between noon and 2pm in Waterstone's tomorrow.