A HIGHLY-rated police inspector has quit the force after admitting assaulting his wife.

Mustaq Patala handed in his resignation letter to Lancashire Police chiefs on Friday.

It follows his admissions earlier this month at Preston Crown Court to two counts of common assault against his wife and mother of his three children, Zaheda Patala.

Former Insp Patala, 33, who had been earning £50,000 a year while suspended, was set to be dismissed at a fast-tracked internal disciplinary procedure following the hearing.

He will no longer go through that process.

He had been seen as a rising star of the force having overseen the highly-rated neighbourhood policing teams in Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley.

He achieved one of the best ever scores in the country for his inspector examination and was regarded as very intelligent by his former colleagues.

Patala, formerly of Pleckgate Road, but currently on bail to an address in London Road, Blackburn, had faced more serious domestic violence-related charges, which he denied.

They were dropped by the CPS.

His wife claimed the police were trying to frame him, withdrew her complaint and refused to co-operate with investigating officers.

The incidents he pleaded guilty to were on April 8, 2009, when he fought with his wife on the day she took her driving theory test, and an incident at their home in October 28, 2010, when a row broke out and he threw furniture across the room.

Patala was arrested on November 4 after a row between the couple.