IN the early 1970s, police desk sergeant John Michael Knowles dispatched one of his officers to find a mentally ill patient who had wandered off her hospital ward and, as a favour, pick up a colleague's wife who had gone for a walk after several too many sherries.

The officer in question duly picked up both women and delivered them safely home - one to her police house in Pity Me and the other to Winterton Hospital.

It wasn't until several hours later when Sgt Knowles was confronted with a furious matron demanding to know what a hungover and confused policeman's wife was doing on her ward and an even angrier policeman demanding to know what an escaped patient was doing in his house, that the officer realised his mistake.

The incident is one of the real life calamities that have been turned into the former policeman's first novel, Clogger Of The Yard.

Almost all the incidents in the book are inspired by events during his years in Durham - and it makes the events depicted in the popular TV drama Heartbeat look tame in comparison.

Mr Knowles was born in Darlington and, after leaving Eastbourne School, joined Durham Police as a cadet, based at Sedgefield. In 1969, he completed his basic training at Newby Wiske Hall, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, and later that year was posted to Durham City.

During his time there, he lived in the police hostel in New Elvet, frequented the Shakespeare pub, in Saddler Street, and even worked in the famous police box which controlled traffic in the Market Place - all of which make frequent appearances in the novel.

After three years in Durham, he was transferred to CID in Gateshead and rose through the ranks during his 25-year career, eventually becoming an inspector before he retired to Alicante with his Spanish wife.

The book follows the fortunes of PC Roger Catchpole - known by everyone as Clogger - who, like Mr Knowles, arrives at Durham as a rookie policeman on April Fool's Day 1969.

During Clogger's time in Durham, he manages to induce gridlock in the city centre and lock the Bishop of Durham and foreign dignitaries in the cathedral tower.

"Clogger was the nickname of someone I knew many years ago who had the ability to make accidental contact with our chair leg whenever you lifted a cup to your lips," remembered Mr Knowles.

"The inspiration for Clogger and the rest of the characters came from various police officers I came into contact with during my career, but one of the major influences was Eric Wilson, from Burnopfield, a legendary constable known by everybody from the chief superintendent down as Big Eric.

"Sadly, Eric died before the novel was published, but he will always be remembered with deep affection."

He added: "Apart from the ending, the book is based on real situations which happened to me or have been told to me by colleagues."

* Clogger Of The Yard, published by Vista House, is available in the UK from amazon.co.uk, priced £8.99.