THE founder of Wiltshire Crimestoppers officially retires from the police force today, but says he will continue to work tirelessly for the charity.

Malcolm Keene, from Warm-inster, was asked to set up the service in March 1996 and since then it has had a big impact across the county. A key part of his time as Crimestoppers co-ordinator was spent working with the charity's board to promote the service in the community.

West Wiltshire residents will perhaps best remember the three summer events the charity put on at Longleat that saw stars like Ross Kemp wow the crowds. Mr Keene, who retires as a detective inspector, sees the events as the highlight of his job.

He said: "To organise those events was a really great buzz and to have all that hard work come together was brilliant."

Mr Keene will continue as a board member with the charity and other big events are in the pipeline for 2004. There are also plans to develop a regional call centre to operate 24 hours a day.

Wiltshire Crimestoppers vice chairman Sue Fobbester said: "It was a case of going much further than he had to with his job and I think that makes him pretty unusual these days. The police force should be very proud of him."