A second high-ranking officer in a national police force is receiving both a pension and salary after retiring from service then later returning to work.

The Times revealed yesterday that Ian Johnston, the Chief Constable of British Transport Police, is the country’s highest paid officer with an estimated pay and pension package of £260,000 per annum.

It has now emerged that the force’s Deputy Chief Constable, Andy Trotter, benefits from the same arrangement. Mr Trotter receives a salary of between £145-150,000 from the BTP and a pension estimated to be more than £60,000 after retiring from the Metropolitan Police at the rank of deputy assistant commissioner.

MPs raised concerns yesterday about what one called the practice of “double hatting” by senior police officers. Keith Vaz, MP, raised the issue at a public hearing of the Home Affairs Select Committee and said that he intends to ask ministers to inquire how widespread an occurrence it is.

The anomaly that allows some officers to retire, then return to service and collect both pay and pension arises because a small number of police forces do not come under the auspices of the Home Office. BTP, which is responsible for policing the rail network, is the best known example. It is regulated by the Department for Transport and funded through a levy on the rail companies, all of which receive major public subsidies.

But retired officers are also able to resume a police career in forces such as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, run by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and the Ministry of Defence Police. Officers have also been known to sign up with forces in the Channel Islands and overseas after taking retirement.

Police officers are currently able to retire on a full pension, amounting to two thirds of their final salary, at the end of 30 years’ service. Smaller forces are able to benefit from the experience and expertise of senior ranks by bringing them back into service on attractive financial packages.

But there is concern among some in the smaller forces that the habit of filling senior posts from outside hampers the career paths of ambitious officers.

Mr Trotter left the Metropolitan Police in 2004 and became the public face of the BTP during the aftermath of the July 2005 London bombings. A spokesman for BTP declined to comment on his remuneration.

The force also refused to discuss the situation of Stephen Thomas, the Assistant Chief Constable, who joined BTP earlier this year after 30 years’ service with the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester forces. Mr Thomas, who led the British policing operation at the World Cup in Germany last year, was recruited by BTP to plan for the 2012 Olympic Games.

A spokesman for BTP said: “Their salaries and other financial arrangements are a private matter between them and the police authority that appoints them. They are employed to do a job here and they get a wage for that job. Any other financial arrangements are a private matter.”

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