A FAMILIAR face is retiring from Selby Police and hanging up his handcuffs after 23 years serving the local community.

Sergeant Phil Holliday is known to hundreds, if not thousands of people around the Selby district, having been stationed at the town’s police station for most of his 23-year career. During that time he has not only arrested criminals but also helped people in need throughout the area.

Originally from the north-east, Sgt Holliday first joined the Army, serving nine years with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and completing two tours of Northern Ireland.

Having spent all that time with Yorkshiremen he decided to relocate to the area and applied to North Yorkshire Police arriving in Selby in 1987.

Since then the 50-year-old, who with his Army career has completed 30 years service, has spent most of his time in the town, with just a couple of brief stints in York.

He also served with the force’s tactical firearms unit, and had to face down two armed robbers following a tip off they were going to rob the post office at Masham.

He said: “At 7.20 I was in the action group and the officer in ops said ‘strike, strike, strike’.

“There were two people stood at the back door wearing balaclavas and combat jackets. I shouted the challenge and this bloke dropped the sawn-off. That was very exciting. It still had iron filings in the barrel where they had sawn it off that morning.”

But it will be the people that Sgt Holliday will miss most about the job.

He said: “I’ve seen people in the community, who were small children who I used to tick off, mature and have children of their own. I’ll miss just making a difference, it’s not all about arresting people. “Many years later people come up and say: ‘You’re a good fellow, you.’ People say that to my face on a Friday and Saturday night in the town and I’m pleased about that.”

Sgt Holliday now plans to enjoy his first Christmas off for many years and spending time with his family; he has a wife and two children. He then hopes to be involved with the Olympic Games, probably in a security capacity.

His final day with Selby Police will be on September 30.