ONE of Sussex Police’s top cops has been cleared by a watchdog of racist behaviour towards a taxi driver.

An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission has found no evidence that East Sussex Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Neil Honnor showed racist or criminal behaviour.

Mr Honnor was alleged to have made the comments while off-duty and riding in a taxi that had picked him and another senior officer up in Eastbourne in September.

He will now face a misconduct meeting chaired by a chief officer from another force along with Inspector Claire Stephenson.

She was accused of unlawfully accessing police data files following the incident although the Crown Prosecution Service have ruled to take no further action on this matter.

Mr Honnor returned to work yesterday after a four month suspension following the findings of the report while Insp Stephenson has been cleared to continue working since the incident.

The news comes a day after details of another misconduct hearing involving a Sussex Police constable were made public.

PC Forrest Knight will answer allegations that he unlawfully accessed police IT systems, disclosed confidential information to a third party and entered false information while clocking into work.

His hearing will be held on February 24 at Sussex Police Headquarters in Lewes – one of the first of its kind in the county to be held in public.

Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said: "We welcome the scrutiny of the IPCC in this matter. Sussex Police referred the matter for independent oversight after learning that the officer's behaviour had been perceived as racist.

“Their report clearly identifies that there was no evidence of any racist behaviour or any other criminal offence in the way he acted."

"We take any report of racism very seriously.

“We have kept our independent advisors in the community up to date with this investigation and have sought their views.

“Sussex Police cares about developing its relationship with black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and has invested in it through its neighbourhood policing teams and support from an independent race advisory group.

“We remain fully committed to providing a fair and non-discriminatory policing service to our communities.”