A TOP North Yorkshire police officer reinstated after being forced to quit his job has vowed to clear his name.

Speaking after the Home Secretary overturned Chief Constable David Kenworthy's decision to make him resign from the force, former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Hallinan said he hoped the truth would eventually emerge.

Mr Hallinan, of Alne, near Easingwold, was asked to leave the force after he pleaded guilty to a string of vehicle offences.

He was reinstated following an appeal to the Home Office, but demoted to inspector, and is now waiting for the outcome of an appeal over a previous internal disciplinary matter.

Mr Hallinan told the Evening Press: "All I have ever done is to do my best for North Yorkshire police, and the public it serves, and the last seven years have been an enormous burden on myself and my family.

"I am concerned that people are prepared to discuss things with the media about me without the basic knowledge of what happened, but I hope the facts will eventually emerge."

Mr Hallinan, a former head of Harrogate CID, was investigated over his involvement in the case of policewoman Libby Ashurst, who was later given a six-figure pay-out by the force.

He was fined £1,500 after five of eight accusations were proved.

Mr Hallinan was fined £200 after he was stopped at North Yorkshire Police headquarters in Newby Wiske, near Northallerton.

He was driving an imported Mercedes which did not have a proper registration plate, vehicle licence or test certificate.

Its headlights were found not to be in good working order.

He has been suspended since September 1998.

North Yorkshire police's press office said that the Chief Constable would not comment.

But a spokesman said: "Colin Hallinan had been required to resign, but we understand that the Home Secretary has said he should be reinstated and we are currently considering how to go about doing that."

It is the second time North Yorkshire police has been told to reinstate an officer who had been forced to resign.

Peter Marsland resigned after being convicted of assaulting a man while attending a domestic dispute in Acomb. He was reinstated after an appeal, but later left the force.