A POLICE accident investigator in East Lancashire is set to face magistrates over allegations relating to how vehicles were disposed of by the county constabulary.

Police sergeant James Alan Boothby, 48, has been summonsed to appear at Liverpool City Magistrates Court, charged with misconduct in public office.

The charge follows an inquiry by the Independent Police Comp-laints Commission (IPCC) into his actions as a vehicle recovery liaison officer for the force.

The summons relates into how a vehicle sales and disposal contract was awarded while Sgt Boothby held the post.

He was charged following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service and will appear in court next Monday.

A Lancashire Police spokesman confirmed that Sgt Boothby was currently suspended on full pay from his position pending the court hearing.

Sgt Boothby has investigated a number of fatal car smashes in the county’s Eastern and Pennine police divisions, which cover Blackburn, Hyndburn, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, in recent years.

He is regularly called on to give expert advice at inquests staged by Blackburn coroner Michael Singleton and his East Lancashire counterpart Richard Taylor.