THE embattled chief constable of North Yorkshire tried to carry on as usual yesterday in the face of further calls for him to quit after he admitted gross misconduct.

Grahame Maxwell attended a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police Authority's policy and planning board. No mention was made of the nepotism row which has left his career hanging by a thread.

Mr Maxwell, 50, spoke very little during the three hour meeting, held at the force's Newby Wiske headquarters yesterday afternoon, but appeared to be in good spirits as he conferred with colleagues.

There was no mention of the disciplinary hearing he faced last week.

The chief constable was handed a final written warning for trying to help a family member get a job after admitting gross misconduct.

The police authority has said that a written warning was the best course of action but, in a statement, it acknowledged that the public confidence in Mr Maxwell and the service as a whole has been undermined.

The new leader of York City Council, James Alexander, became the latest politician to join the chorus of public figures in the region to call for Mr Maxwell to stand down.

The Labour leader said: "It's very surprising and shocking that someone who has admitted gross misconduct and in effect admitted to being dishonest is leading our police force.

"The police authority may back Grahame Maxwell but they're also backing the members of their police force who are actually losing their jobs and I think it's going to be a real kick in the teeth for some of those police officers."

Among the other public figures calling for the chief constable to resign are Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith, Mr Maxwell's predecessor as chief constable Della Cannings and the MP for Selby and Ainsty, Nigel Adams.

But the North Yorkshire Police Authority was holding the line last night insisting it had been right to give Mr Maxwell a written warning.

It added: "An independent panel came to the decision that the circumstances of this matter did not render it appropriate that Mr Maxwell should be dismissed.

"A panel of four senior eminent independent people who were in the possession of the full facts decided that a final written warning was the appropriate way of dealing with this."