A LANCASHIRE Police officer with 18 years' service has become the first in the country to be forced to quit because of poor performance.

The 45-year-old officer, who has not been identified, was asked by constabulary bosses to resign under legislation introduced in 1999 to tackle poor performance.

The Lancashire PC, who lives in South Ribble and worked in Chorley and Leyland, was forced out in June following his appearance before senior officers at an "inefficiency" hearing.

The officer asked for Chief Constable Pauline Clare to review the case but the decision was upheld. He has now lodged an appeal with the Police Appeals Tribunal which will be heard in January.

Steve Edwards, Lancashire Federation chairman, said the case would lead to other forces looking at under-performing officers and stressed that the rules governing dismissal should be followed very carefully.

He added: "As a federation we do not want to see under-performing officers remaining in the job as this puts extra pressure on others, as long as they are given the opportunity to improve their performance before being asked to resign." He said he was more concerned with Government proposalsto allow forces to link sickness and poor performance - forces would be able to dismiss officers on grounds of "capability" or "unsatisfactory performance" because of poor attendance.

Mr Edwards said: "This proposal concerns me greatly. The question of sickness is purely a medical one, how can it be linked to performance? If an officer is off work on genuine medical grounds this should not be an indication of under performance."

Assistant Chief Constable Julia Hodson said: "In certain circumstances the force has the authority to require an individual to resign. It is separate from misconduct procedures which are already strictly regulated."