The early retirement of Devon and Conrwall Constabulary Chief Constable Maria Wallis might be the tip of the iceberg, Newton Abbot town councillors were told on Wednesday. Teignbridge MP Richard Younger-Ross told councillors he had spoken with county council leader Cllr Brian Greenslade, who had said it was not necessarily the end of the matter, with other police officers involved.

Mr Younger-Ross told councillors that he would 'rather we work quickly to have a new chief constable rather than have a lame duck.' And he praised the former chief constable for succeeding in putting more police officers on the beat. Cllr Allan Vizor said that having met Maria Wallis he found her a great ambassador for the police.

'Unfortunately, with all jobs, the buck stops here when things go wrong,' he said. Questioning the MP, Cllr Ken Lewis said one of the disturbing facts for quite a long time was that the present policing system was not what the public wanted or needed. 'They are running and chasing tails to reach targets. We need a campaign – give us our police back. 'The police used to be controlled by the local police authority.

'They knew what the people needed. Can you take a plea back – give us back our police?' said Cllr Lewis. Replying, Mr Younger-Ross said there was cross-party agreement that the police should be responsive to local need. Cllr Mike Hocking pointed out that crime figures had dropped. But he was sceptical because people had more difficulty getting through to call centres to report incidents.

'Then you get through to another officer who takes information. By that time it can be 10 to 15 minutes. I know, I have got fed up and put the phone down,' he said. Mr Younger-Ross said he would not be too sure if that situation would have any significant impact.

Teignbridge was a low crime area and he congratulated Newton Abbot for leading the way with initiatives such as having cctv which had now been taken up by other towns in the area. l The Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall has retired on the same day the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced it will investigate allegations concerning her conduct.

Maria Wallis had served in the role for four years, but on Wednesday afternoon announced she was to retire, saying it was 'the right thing to do for the people of Devon and Cornwall'. She said she was proud of her force's achievement but that her mother had recently died and her father had undergone major surgery. The Devon & Cornwall Police Authority called on Mrs Wallace to go after saying she had spent insufficient time with her colleagues. There was also widespread criticism of her handling of a pay review which threatened to cut some salaries by several thousand pounds.