TEIGNBRIDGE former MP Richard Younger-Ross has called for Police and Crime Commissioner ­Alison Hernandez to be suspended from duty, after the Electoral Commission fined the Conservatives for breaking election expense rules in the last General Election.

Mr Younger-Ross said: ‘Ms Hernandez was the Conservative agent for Torquay at the 2015 General Election. Torquay was one of the 24 seats where the election irregularities are alleged to have occurred, where expenses from the Conservative party leader’s battle bus were only added to the national returns although it’s claimed the reason for its presence was to help the local Tory candidate.  

‘Ms Hernandez was the local agent and was responsible for filing the local election expense returns.’

The Conservative Party has been fined a record £70,000 by the Electoral Commission.

Police are investigating the allegations and a number of forces have passed their findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions to see if a prosecution should follow.

Mr Younger-Ross added: ‘Any police officer under investigation of wrong doing is suspended during the investigation, surely the same rules should apply to their boss, the Police and Crime Commissioner.

‘Ms Hernandez has been interviewed by the police and now her party has been found guilty of breaching election return regulations. At a time when the DPP are looking at the police papers filed, and following the guilty verdict of the Conservative Party nationally, for the dignity and credibility of the police force, Ms Hernandez should step down from her roll as Police and Crime Commissioner until the conclusion of this case.’

Andrew White, Chief Executive of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, said in a statement: ‘I’m aware of the recent press reports regarding twelve police forces referring election expense investigations to the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘The investigation into Ms Hernandez is being managed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and is being undertaken by West Mercia Police. I have not received any information that this case has been referred to the CPS.

‘It was reported that Devon and Cornwall Police have passed files to the CPS. Devon and Cornwall Police are not responsible for any aspect of the investigation into Ms Hernandez. Following my referral to the IPCC, the investigation is managed by another force to ensure that there is no possibility of conflict.’