OPERATION Lancet becomes more intractable and more protracted by the day.

The latest development - although development is too grand a word for a process that often appears to be going backwards - is that Ray Mallon's preliminary hearings have been adjourned to the New Year.

Only once they have been concluded can the substantive disciplinary hearings begin.

Mr Mallon has been suspended for exactly four years and, having been cleared of criminal wrong-doing a lifetime ago, his preliminary hearings are still rumbling on. And all the time, the early April deadline for nominations to be Middlesbrough's first directly-elected mayor draws closer.

To be able to put his name forward, Mr Mallon must have left the police force. But Cleveland Police, rightly, refuses to accept his resignation - policemen cannot be allowed to wriggle off the hook whenever they feel like it.

This means, though, that Cleveland Police and all the other counsels and bodies involved in this protracted mess are beholden to sort things out as quickly as possible so that Mr Mallon - who is innocent in the eyes of the law - can get on with his life.

And it is not just Mr Mallon's life. Other officers remain suspended in limbo; the force from the Chief Constable downwards must also want speedy resolution.

In October, the people of Middlesbrough overwhelmingly voted for a directly-elected mayor. The size of the result - 84 per cent in favour - was out of kilter with the rest of the country. Therefore, there must be different circumstances in Middlesbrough that made the mayor so attractive. And the only different circumstance was Mr Mallon's avowed intention to stand.

So now democracy is demanding that Mr Mallon be freed to place his name before the people. Lancet must be cleared up so that he can.