A BELEAGURED chief constable has been accused of attempting to tarnish the clean-cut image of suspended Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon.

Police clerk Jayne Thwaites, 34, has made an official complaint that Barry Shaw, head of Cleveland Police, is behind false rumours she had an affair with Mr Mallon.

Yesterday, Cleveland Police Authority chairman Ken Walker confirmed he was aware of Miss Thwaite's complaint and was "considering what to do".

Miss Thwaites, who lives in Hartlepool, has worked for the police for more than five years - most recently on the front desk at the town's police station.

Her solicitor, Scott Taylor, of the Teesside firm Watson Woodhouse, said: "My client was a close colleague of Ray Mallon during his successful Zero Tolerance policing operation in Hartlepool.

"Since his suspension from duty, she has been subjected to a persistent whispering campaign emanating from police headquarters, implying that the relationship between then was improper." Mr Taylor claimed that as a result of the allegations Miss Thwaites had been the subject of a campaign of surveillance and harassment, and had been pursued by tabloid journalists.

"It is absolutely intolerable that a decent, law-abiding and hard-working woman should be hounded in this way," he said.

Yesterday, Det Supt Mallon said: "These complaints do not surprise me. I have stated for almost three years now that senior officers have been investigating my private life."

Mr Shaw is already the subject of a Police Complaints Authority probe after Joanne Malone, Cleveland Police's head of media communications, used new whistleblower legislation to complain about her bosses' behaviour.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: "We have had further information brought to our attention, which may be connected with the previous allegations made against the Chief Constable and others in the force. This is currently being considered by the force and the Police Authority.'