INVESTIGATIONS into complaints about retiring chief constable Pat Geenty and two senior officers have been completed - but will not be revealed before the chief constable leaves the force this weekend.

Mr Geenty is due to hand over the reins of Wiltshire Police to successor Mike Veale this Sunday, but the findings of the IPCC investigation and any disciplinary action may not be finalised for more than a month.

The probe, which also included an inspector and detective constable working in in 2008 and 2009, has centred around allegations that information into the force’s failings in sexual abuse allegations was withheld from the complainants.

Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson referred the matter to the IPCC on August 29 last year, and the investigation was launched the following month.

If the allegations are proved, it would amount to gross misconduct.

Mr Geenty announced his intention to retire in February, which was accepted by Mr Macpherson.

New regulations which aim to stop police officers from resigning or retiring if they are subject to an allegation that could lead to dismissal came into force on January 12 this year.

However, because the investigation pre-dated the new regulations, they do not apply to Mr Geenty.

Following concerns from the police watchdog, Mr Macpherson later confirmed Mr Geenty would remain in post until the conclusion of the investigation.

A spokesman for the IPCC said: “Our investigation is now complete and the report is in the process of being drafted.

“Once the report is written it needs to be provided to the appropriate authority, which is the PCC.”

The PCC will have 35 days after receiving the report to respond to the findings, if the IPCC concludes there is a case to answer, and ascertain whether the three officers could face disciplinary proceedings.

From December 1, 2013 to August 1, 2014, 144 officers resigned or retired while subject to a gross misconduct investigation, preventing them from being held to account for their actions.

The Home Office says a chief officer or PCC will now only be able to consent to an officer’s resignation or retirement if they are deemed medically unfit or in other exceptional circumstances, for example where a covert criminal investigation could be prejudiced.

These regulations aim to ensure that officers are held to account for their actions, that the truth can be established, that victims of police misconduct and their families are provided with justice and that the police learn the full lessons of each incidence of serious misconduct.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “Direct damage has been done to public confidence by cases in which officers escaped justice by resigning or retiring where they might have been dismissed.

“The public expects police officers to act with the highest standards of integrity and for those suspected of misconduct to be subject to formal disciplinary proceedings.

“The ability of officers to avoid potential dismissal by resigning or retiring is an unacceptable situation. That is why I have introduced these reforms to ensure victims and their families are not denied the truth of police misconduct.”