A TOP detective who has helped crack hundreds of crimes in the region has said farewell to the force he has served for 33 years.

Durham Constabulary's Detective Chief Inspector Paul Green, who as well as receiving more than a dozen commendations during his career, has helped raise more than £150,000 for charities, is leaving to take up a liaison post with Imperial Tobacco.

Born in Leeholme, near Bishop Auckland, Mr Green spent his first three years with the force on the beat in Consett, County Durham. Apart from a short spell as a uniformed inspector, he has worked in plain clothes ever since.

It was in 1970 that he was appointed to his first job as a detective with the force's newly- formed drugs squad, later moving to the regional crime squad, and working his way up through the ranks.

Most recently, he has been in Bishop Auckland, as Wear and Tees division's crime manager.

He has a wife Marjorie, and two daughters, Caroline, 18, and 17-year-old Laura, who suffers from cerebral palsy and is the inspiration behind his fundraising for charities from Cancer Research to Mencap.

Mr Green has remained at the sharp end of policing, solving hundreds of crimes.

He led Operation Crossbow, which smashed the country's biggest amphetamine drug dealing ring.

He said: "My aim was to catch villains and take them off the streets. If I am to be missed, I hope it is by the criminals.

"I am proud to have served Durham Constabulary, and I will miss the job and my many colleagues, but I feel it is now an opportune time to move on.''