FOR 25 years, Mike I'Anson looked after people and their bodies, which were not always intact. He now looks after plants and gardens and sleeps much better at night.

Mr I'Anson has lived in Thirsk for the past 17 years and spent much of his police career in the Harrogate and Ripon areas. His last position in the force was as an inspector in research and development.

His latter years saw him involved in quite a few traumatic experiences dealing with conflict.

"My health was suffering and as I have always been interested in gardening, I decided to take early retirement and study gardening instead," he said. "It was the best move I could ever have made. I have never slept so soundly at night."

Some of his tasks while in the force included setting up a temporary morgue for body parts following a major incident, and a review of the coroner's service.

"I had dealt with death long enough and opted to spend my time with living things," he said.

"My specialist tasks in the police force were all negative ones which leave you stressed and emotionally drained, whereas with gardening everything is positive. Plants are like people, you have to understand them and can't treat them all the same.

"In my position, I tried to create an environment where people could work, but we still kept losing officers continuously. It was so negative in the end and I felt it was time to hand over the police baton to someone younger.

"Having said that, I enjoyed by time with the police but felt I had done my stint and needed something different in my life."

He attended night classes at Askham Bryan Agricultural College to gain an RHA diploma in horticulture.

"This is a good qualification for an amateur gardener and, having become hooked, I enlisted on a three-year HND course which professionals take and am now in my third year," he said.

He believes his management skills in the police force have served him well in the garden.

"You have to manage the earth, the plants and what you hope to achieve in a similar way. Helping with the creation of East Thirsk Millennium Green, the skills that I learned managing a team of police officers could be put into practice for the gardening team to get everything done on time."

Since retiring from the force, he has extended his garden at his detached home by buying a piece of land from the local farmer and he now has a third of an acre to play with.

"When I first started this garden, I was surprised how little I knew about gardening," he said. "One of my first ventures into gardening involved planting 40 gladioli bulbs. I realised when I had planted them all that I had put them upside down and when I tried to find them again to put them right, I could only find five.

"Now, after college, I realise that plants right themselves whichever way you put them in as roots always go down and buds upwards towards the eight.

But 18 months later, the garden is taking shape.

His wife, Michele, is secretary of the Ritz Cinema in Thirsk. She is a keen gardener, too, so she and Mr I'Anson can now spend their time together enjoying their hobby.

Once he had qualified, Mr I'Anson decided to take his hobby further and when he saw an advert for a gardener at Cowesby Hall, he applied, and to his surprise got the job.

The hall is privately owned by a businessman who wanted the overgrown and neglected garden gutted and redesigned. Mr I'Anson was the sole gardener at the beginning but now four people are working on its restoration.

"We have laid a 1,200 square yard lawn and spread 60,000 tons of top soil and are eagerly awaiting watching the whole garden come to life next spring," he said.

Mr I'Anson has also enrolled as the only man in local flower arranging classes.

"My gardening mentor is Harry Dobson of television's Victorian Kitchen fame. I have done various work with him. It was he who told me that a head gardener was supposed to arrange the flowers in the hall so I thought I had better get some lessons."

Gardening has, it must be said, at times been a real "hot bed", he added.

"With Harry, we created what is known as a hot bed by filling a wooden structure 8ft by 4ft and 4ft high, with 3ft 6ins of horse manure, some two tons. This was topped by soil. As the manure rots, it eats up the soil and allowed us to grow carrots, beetroot, spring onions and salads on top, earlier than most crops."

Mr I'Anson used his expertise to set up East Thirsk Millennium Garden with the trust that was formed. The 3-acre garden which is now a centrepiece was planted with 3,000 trees and bushes by Mr I'Anson, who led 30 volunteers.

Mr I'Anson is also spearheading the idea to create a community forest for Thirsk. Last April he applied to the Market Town Initiative with the idea and a sum of money was provided to publish a leaflet on the idea and drum up support.

This he has done and more than 50 people have registered an interest of going forward with the idea.

"It's all a long way from police work," he said, "but my interest, like plants, is constantly growing."