WHEN Totnes's new police boss Andy Tomlinson is not out catching criminals, he's out catching waves — the town's new police inspector is also a keen surfer.

He started out aiming to become a farmer, but instead he has ended up running the police operation covering Totnes, Dartmouth and South Brent in charge of some 30 officers.

The 45-year-old father of two has just taken over the job which has been carried out by an acting inspector for the last year.

Mr Tomlinson once worked in Newton Abbot for an agricultural sales company.

Now he is based at Totnes Police Station.

"It's a beautiful area," he said. "From a personal perspective it appeals to me. I consider myself to be a country boy."

He said that his 'patch' was a huge area geographically but he pointed out that according to the statistics it has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and is reckoned the third safest place to live in the country.

But he said that the area did have its issues — one of which in Totnes has been the concerns over street drinking.

"The message I am getting is very positive in relation to crime issues here," he said. "I am pleased that most of the issues here are of a fairly low level, but I do understand that although they may not be serious they are situations that impact on people's lives and I do take them very seriously."

Mr Tomlinson grew up in Derbyshire and on The Wirral before heading off to Seale-Hayne College, near Newton Abbot, to study agriculture.

The inspector, who lives with wife Sharon and teenage daughters Shannon and Freya, took a degree in agriculture before working in the Lake District and then Newton Abbot.

When he was 27, he decided to give it up and join the police — based at Teignmouth, Torquay, Plymouth and Exeter before taking over in Totnes.

He is a keen runner who took up surfing 17 years ago, and he tries to get out in the waves every weekend — usually at Bantham, near Kingsbridge.