He was born near York and started working as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police , he wrote several autobiographical books about his experiences with policing the rural community around Malton. He resigned from the police in 2007 to start his own business providing entertainment centres for children under 12, based on the Yorkshire countryside and its animals. His wife Ann is still a serving police officer with the North Yorkshire police.
He is a cousin of Nicholas Rhea , author of the "Constable" books on which "Heartbeat" is based.
