He was born near York and started working as a police officer with the
Metropolitan Police ("the Met") in London where he dealt with riots,
drug gangs and armed robbery. In 1997 he moved back to North Yorkshire
and worked as a Rural Community Beat Officer and later a Wildlife
Officer for the rural North Yorkshire police force, based at Malton
police station. After appearing on the BBC documentary series
Country Cops (2005), he wrote
several autobiographical books about his experiences with policing the
rural community around Malton. He resigned from the police in 2007 to
start his own business providing entertainment centres for children
under 12, based on the Yorkshire countryside and its animals. His wife
Ann is still a serving police officer with the North Yorkshire police.