A SCHOOL caretaker is making a clean sweep after 12 years as a special constable.

Colin Swalwell always wanted to be a policeman and only realised his ambition at the age of 44.

"I did go down once to the police station to join - but they were closed," said Mr Swalwell, who is the caretaker at Harry Dack School in Loftus.

"It was 20 years later that I took the step of joining the specials and then it took more than a year from applying to get into uniform."

Now aged 58, Mr Swalwell has hung up his tunic for the last time. He is retiring from the specials, but continuing his work looking after the school.

While police work had been his lifetime's ambition, he was persuaded to work in the family's farming and milk business. He and his wife Sheila run a stud farm.

Superintendent Steve Swales of Cleveland Police said: "Colin has been an excellent officer. He has successfully combined a busy working life with voluntary police work and has made a tremendous contribution to policing Loftus. We all wish him well for the future."