HAVING served Wiltshire Police for 25 years, Malmesbury’s neighbourhood police sergeant left the force today.

Sergeant Connor – or Phil as he is now known – served his last day on Friday, as he prepares for the next stage of his career.

He joined Wiltshire Police in 1991 as a volunteer special police constable and became a full time regular in 1997, before working his way up to his current position as a community policing sergeant.

The 55-year-old said he had enjoyed every minute of his time serving the community but had reached the end of his 30-year pensionable service, having served in the civil service before the police, and felt the time was right to move on.

“I have found the whole time in the police extremely rewarding, it just naturally came to an end,” he said.

“I’ve enjoyed the responsibility of being the neighbourhood policing team in Calne and Malmesbury and successfully achieved the biggest reduction in anti-social behaviour in Calne over a lengthy period.

“I think we bring people that cause the most harm in community to task for their actions and protect those most vulnerable.”

Phil now plans to take a short break before looking to getting back to work.

“I was a heating and ventilating engineer for 20 years before joining police, so I’m thinking about maybe getting involved with that again possibly,” he said.

“I don’t intend to stop working, I simply see it as the end of this part of my career.

“I’ve got a classic MG Midget and a new garage, so will spend some time renovating that.”

Speaking about Phil’s retirement, Wiltshire Police said: “Sergeant Connor has helped influence and shape a lot of young officers over his career within Wiltshire Police.

“He is a very proactive member of the community police teams and is at his happiest when he is out in the community putting problems right and holding those responsible to account.

“He will be sadly and sorely missed by the teams he has managed within Wiltshire Police family and we wish him a happy and healthy retirement.

“Good luck Sargent Connor and a big thank you for all your hard work and dedication to the job over the past 19 years.”