A VILLAGE bobby's dream will be realised after his death - when his friends publish his memoirs.

Norman Leslie Barningham was born in 1938 and became a beat bobby in 1959.

He served in Northallerton and Osmotherley for 26 years and made lengthy notes about his experiences.

He began to type up his notes when he retired and hoped to create a book.

However, he died from cancer before he could finish it.

Fourteen months after his death, former police sergeant and friend Dennis Hawthornethwaite will publish Mr Barningham's book. Proceeds will given to Cancer Research.

Barny's Beat, The Chief Constable of Osmotherley, contains about 50 stories.

They include tales of him catching a bigamist, coming across a ghost near Northallerton cemetery, dealing with poachers, acting as a witness to a marriage at short notice and looking after the Queen in York, in 1988.

The title is a reference to how Mr Barningham referred to himself as the chief constable of Osmotherley because of the time he served in the village.

Mr Hawthornethwaite said: "Norman was a great character and a community policeman. He was a country man at heart and stood no nonsense.

"He was a great friend who had some great wit and was very humorous and that shows in the book.

"It is about people that he met on his job.

"The main thing was to do what he wanted, to carry out his wishes and do what he wanted to do."

During his career Mr Barningham was awarded the Wilfred Ward Rose Bowl for outstanding contribution to community police work and a British Empire Medal.

Mr Hawthornethwaite worked with Mr Barningham's wife, Myra, to compile the book.

Their friend, Tony Eaton, helped to put the book together.

The book, which costs £6, will be officially launched at North Yorkshire Police's open day, in Newby Wiske Hall, near Northallerton, on September 8.

Copies are available from Mitchell's Newsagents, Nort-hallerton, the Village Shop and Post Office, Osmotherley, or from Mrs Barningham by writing to 12 Pennine View, Romanby, Northallerton, DL6 8HP.

Postage and packaging costs £1.