HUNDREDS of medals, trophies and other artefacts from North Yorkshire Police's former headquarters are back up for auction just weeks after a planned sale was cancelled.

The force put the items from Newby Wiske - which included a silver cup engraved with the Green Howard insignia and presented to officers of the former North Riding Constabulary by officers of the Green Howards - under the hammer at a Scottish auction house in November, but pulled them at the last minute "due to the level of concern and feedback" received when details of the sale were made public.

Assistant Chief Constable Amanda Oliver said at the time the force had decided to postpone the auction, and a review would be carried out before any sale goes ahead to determine what should be sold, and the most appropriate location for the auction.

ACC Oliver also pledged to "consult with people who have an interest in the items, including the North Yorkshire’s Association of Retired Police Officers before we make any final decisions".

This week, the Unreserved Contents of the North Yorkshire Police Headquarters auction was announced at Ayrshire auctioneers Wilsons, and more than 200 items are due to go under the hammer on January 30.

Mark Botham, former police officer and chair of the North Yorkshire Police Federation, said he was unhappy that the sale was going ahead, and he could find no evidence of consultation with former officers about the sale of the items.

Mr Botham said: "I, like many retired officers, am disappointed that this sale is being rescheduled and that items that should be donated to local museums such as Police Museum at Ripon and the Green Howard’s Museum haven’t been.

"It seems odd to have a sale so close to the festive period, it’s almost like it had been timed to minimise negative publicity from selling the family silver. It appears some people still know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

The matter was addressed by Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Will Naylor at a public accountability meeting at the end of November, who said the auction took place in Scotland due to a decision by an auctioneer contracted to sell police items.

He said "a thorough process" was carried out to assess all the items on offer, and action would be carried out to "double-check" they would not be better suited to be offered to local former officers first, and the auction would be available online to ensure anyone could bid for them, regardless of location.

North Yorkshire Police's Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Phil Cain said in the time since the auction had been postponed, "a number of museums and organisations that represent both serving and retired police officers" were consulted and given chance to identify "any items that were important to their members, which would then be donated".

He said: "I’m pleased to say that some of those we consulted have taken us up on this offer and several items are being rehomed. We had already retained a number of historically-significant items prior to the planned sale, and have carried out a further review since the auction was postponed.

"As a result, we’ve decided to keep several more pieces, which will go on display at our new headquarters in Alverton Court along side the other artifacts we've chosen to retain. We’re now at a point where we have exhausted the donation process, and the remaining items will go into an auction on 30 January to generate money we will reinvest in policing throughout North Yorkshire."

ACC Cain said the original auction house was "best placed to handle this sale, as we hope it will generate the best sum for each item", and that "a greater number of items have been retained", but could not confirm how many or which.