One of Britain’s most senior police officers resigned last night after allegations were made about his private life and alleged financial irregularities.

Terence Grange, 57, Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys, said that he had allowed his private affairs to interfere with his work and could no longer continue in his job. He resigned less than a week after the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) opened an investigation into claims of misuse of a police computer and alleged financial wrongdoing.

Mr Grange allegedly sent inappropriate e-mails from his office computer to a woman, who subsequently complained, and it is believed that a financial investigation is centred on mileage claims for police work trips. It is also understood that he quit only after Dyfed Powys Police Authority refused his requests for backing.

“He went to ask for the support of the police authority but it was not offered. He had not wanted to retire,” said a police source who did not want to be identified.

The IPCC inquiry into alleged misconduct regarding misuse of a police computer will now be dropped because Mr Grange is no longer a serving officer. But the financial inquiry will continue because of the possibility that a criminal offence has been committed. The IPCC said that its inquiry was at the very early stages.

Mr Grange’s retirement “with immediate effect” was announced by Dyfed-Powys Police Authority. “Mr Grange had indicated that he had allowed his private life to interfere with his professional role as chief constable,” said a spokesman for authority. “This has led the Police Authority to consider the chief constable’s position and it was considered to be appropriate to accept his retirement. In accepting his retirement, the authority thanked Mr Grange for the leadership that he had brought to the force, maintaining its position as one of the best performing in England and Wales.”

Mr Grange was spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers on child protection issues and caused controversy last year when he questioned whether it was appropriate for young men who had sex with 15-year-old girls to be described as paedophiles. He said in an interview in The Times: “I wouldn’t want to mix up kids who are just the wrong side of 16 with paedophiles. I don’t personally adhere to the 15-year-old being with a 20-year-old boyfriend being paedophilia, or even if the boyfriend is 30.”

His work in the area of child protection was well regarded and sources said there was no suggestion that this work was in any way linked to his resignation.

Mr Grange is married with three grown-up daughters. He served in The Parachute Regiment, after which he joined the Metropolitan Police in 1971 when he spotted a recruitment advertisement in The Sun.

He was a senior officer with Avon & Somerset police for 12 years before becoming head of Dyfed-Powys Police in 2000, where he presided over improvements in police performance and a reduction in crime.

Since taking the top job in March 2000 Mr Grange has led a police force with one of the lowest crime rates not only in Wales, but also Britain.

He was known as one of the most outspoken chief constables in Wales, who took a tough line on illicit drugs.

In an interview with a local newspaper he was once reported to have said that all drug barons should be “put up against the wall and shot”.

Lembit Öpik, the Liberal Democrat MP whose Montgomeryshire constituency is in the Dyfed-Powys area, said that he was “gobsmacked” by Mr Grange’s retirement.

He said: “Whatever the reason for Terry Grange’s departure, it must not be allowed to affect the quality of service provision we get from Dyfed-Powys Police.”

Nick Bourne, the Welsh Assembly Opposition leader and Conservative AM for Mid and West Wales, said: “He had a good reputation, deservedly so, as does the police force. It’s an area with very effective policing. You would get very few people criticising the policing in Dyfed-Powys. This comes as a total bolt out of the blue.

“In all my dealings with him I found him to be a first-class police officer. Obviously I don’t know what is behind it, but I’m absolutely stunned.”

Stephen Crabb, the Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, said: “The important thing for the community to bear in mind is that we have a first-class set of local police officers in the Pembrokeshire division who are working extremely hard.”

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