POLICE inspector Alan Miller doesn't make a drama out of a crisis - despite having had more than his fair share during a distinguished career.

The 49-year-old is the emergency planning officer for North Yorkshire Police, a role that has seen him involved in some of the largest and most serious incidents in the force's history.

Insp Miller is set to retire on Christmas Eve after 30 years with the force.

But he will not be going quietly after a hectic time in the demanding role, which he took on seven years ago.

Recently, he has been involved in planning the police response to the firefighters' strike, including how police staff answer fire emergency calls, and ensuring that green goddesses receive a police escort when travelling through the county.

Before that, he was heavily involved in planning the multi-agency response to any terrorist attack in North Yorkshire and York following the September 11 terorist attacks on America.

"September 11 showed us that everywhere is at risk and we had to re-evaluate vulnerable sites within this county and a number of new operating procedures were put in place," said Insp Miller.

Before September 11, he had already been through four major incidents in less than one year - the fuel strike and the floods in 2000, then the Selby train crash and the foot and mouth crisis in 2001.

"The multi-agency response to the crash was very important," he said. "No one organisation has the skills and abilities to manage itself, so training and planning to national standards is paramount and this paid off with seven police forces, four ambulance authorities and four fire brigades working together."

Before he took on the emergency planning role, Insp Miller had been the force press officer for three years and had considerable experience in dealing with serious incidents, including handling international media inquiries at the trial of the IRA man Paul Magee, who shot dead special constable Glenn Goodman in North Yorkshire in 1992.

For the last three-and-a-half years, Insp Miller has also been responsible for the planning and management of all public Royal visits to the county.

With his 24-year-old son, Benjamin, having left home to work in London after a spell at university, Insp Miller now intends taking what he calls a "sabbatical" with his wife, Anne, starting with a trip to New Zealand.

Updated: 10:22 Friday, December 20, 2002