A POLICE officer has been sacked after it was discovered that he was spending parts of night shifts visiting two women with whom he was having sexual relationships.

Sergeant Alan Ward, 40, a response officer based at Bognor, was the subject of a public special case hearing at Sussex Police HQ on Tuesday, where he faced allegations of breaching standards of professional behaviour in respect of duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct.

Chief Constable Giles York, who chaired the hearing, considered the allegations that revolved around Sgt Ward, who joined the force in March 2001, absenting himself while on duty for periods of his night shifts between January 1 and September 30 this year.

During this period he was spending the time at the addresses of two women with whom he was involved in sexual relationships.

The allegations were found to be true and he was dismissed without notice.

Assistant Chief Constable Laurence Taylor said: "At a time when the demands on the force and his colleagues are considerable, this officer's actions fell woefully short of the expectations of Sussex Police and the public he was meant to serve.

"I am pleased that our confidential reporting system, through which this was first reported, demonstrated that his colleagues were similarly as disappointed by his behaviour.

"It is important to show that the force will fairly investigate its own staff and this highlights our determination not to allow a very small number of officers to damage the confidence held in Sussex Police, nor bring into disrepute the enormous amount of good work carried out day-to-day by thousands of hard-working and enormously dedicated police officers and staff across the county."