SUFFOLK police's current longest serving senior officer has hung up his epaulettes. Chief Superintendent Carl Puiy retired on Sunday after more than 30 years in the force.

SUFFOLK police's current longest serving senior officer has hung up his epaulettes.

Chief Superintendent Carl Puiy retired on Sunday after more than 30 years in the force. Mr Puiy's career began in 1977 as a Constable at Lowestoft, where his wages were just over £2,000.

He has held a wide range of posts within the Constabulary including village policeman at Kessingland, Chief Inspector at Bury St Edmunds and Superintendent at Ipswich and in Operations (now known as Protective Services). He was also, until recently, temporary Assistant Chief Constable.

“I'm looking forward to not being on call and not working weekends!” laughed Mr Puiy. “But in all seriousness it has been fantastic working for Suffolk Constabulary because everyone here genuinely cares about the county and the service they give. I've enjoyed everything and loved every minute of it.”

Mr Puiy said he was looking forward to returning to the force as Head of Custody Services. “There's going to be significant work done on Safer Detention and the new Police Investigation Centres and we'll be linking up with Norfolk to get these up and running for 2010,” he explained.

“The time is definitely right to do something different and I can't wait for the challenge of a new role.”

Some of the more unusual elements of his career include project managing the introduction of a Helicopter to Suffolk and working alongside Brad Pitt's bodyguard in the security surrounding Claudia Schiffer's wedding. He was also match commander for the England versus Croatia football game at Portman Road in 2003.