Bedfordshire police officer threatened parking warden, says force

Former PC Paulo Soares was rude and sarcastic as he confronted the woman for 30 minutes, the hearing was told

An off-duty police constable who threatened to arrest a parking warden would have been sacked if he had not resigned, a misconduct hearing ruled.

Paulo Soares, formerly of Bedfordshire Police, filmed the woman near his Cambridgeshire home in April.

He refused to move his vehicle which was not parked in a bay and subjected her "to an ordeal", police said.

Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst said his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct.

"The behaviour was in my view extremely intimidating and fell far below the standards expected of officers in this force," said Mr Rodenhurst, from Bedfordshire Police.

An accelerated conduct hearing at the force's Bedford headquarters last week was told Mr Soares filmed the traffic enforcement officer for more than 30 minutes.

Mr Soares would have faced instant dismissal, the force said, but he had already resigned with immediate effect on 3 November.

The former officer accepted a community resolution order following a criminal investigation into the incident.

He will be added to the College of Policing Barred List - the force said - banning him from returning to policing or other similar professions.

Bedfordshire Police Federation, which represents officers in the county, declined to comment.