GLOUCESTERSHIRE Coroner Alan Crickmore has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, theft and money laundering, it was revealed today.

Police arrested the solicitor last Thursday morning and have since released him on bail while they carry out further enquiries.

The 54-year-old Yorkshireman's arrest follows his law firm offices in Cheltenham, Glos, being closed down last month by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

He has now been suspended as coroner by Gloucestershire County Council and inquests at which he was due to officiate today in Cheltenham were conducted instead by his deputy David Dooley.

A Gloucestershire police spokesman said today "We can confirm that a 54-year-old Cheltenham man was arrested at his home address on the morning of Thursday January 13 on suspicion of fraud, theft and money laundering. At the same time search warrants were executed at a number of addresses in Cheltenham and Gloucester.

"The activity followed the formal launch of a police investigation into matters under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

"Once details of the SRA investigation were made public, we had a duty to determine whether or not a criminal investigation should be launched.

"Having been briefed by the SRA, we felt it appropriate to begin our own inquiry.

"We are liaising with all relevant parties in this matter, including Gloucestershire County Council. The arrested man has been released on police bail pending further enquiries until April 18 2011."

Mr Crickmore's office in High Street, Cheltenham, was closed down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority on December 7 and he has been suspended from practising as a solicitor.

A spokeswoman for the authority said at the time: "The grounds of our intervention are suspected dishonesty by Mr Crickmore in connection with his practice as a solicitor, breaches of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct and breaches of the Solicitors' Accounts Rules 1998."

Coroners are appointed on the basis of being either a barrister, solicitor or doctor.

Mr Crickmore, who lives in Cheltenham and has a cottage in Norfolk, has been practising law for 30 years. He drives a Jaguar with the personalised registration plate AC 54 HMC and regularly enjoys cruising holidays.

A devout Catholic, he is a director of the Trust which runs the St Edward's independent school in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham.

He became deputy coroner for Gloucester in 1990 and took over as the city coroner in 2002. In 2005, he also took on the role of the coroner for the Cotswolds and combined the two jobs to become the first coroner ever to cover the whole of Gloucestershire.

His law firm specialised in family law, liquor and public entertainments licensing, commercial contracts and conveyancing, wills and probate, and domestic conveyancing.

His firm's website has been taken down and callers are being referred to Wright Hassall solicitors in Leamington Spa who have taken over as intervention agents for the firm.

Gloucestershire county council's Head of Trading Standards, Registration and Coroners, said today "Although Coroners are appointed and paid for by local councils, they are not local government officers and instead hold office under the Crown.

"And at law it is the Lord Chancellor who is responsible for the discipline of Coroners. In certain circumstances, the Lord Chancellor has the power to remove a Coroner from office, with the agreement of the Lord Chief Justice.

"The Coroner's offices in Cheltenham and Gloucester remain open for business and are operating as normal."