A 55-year-old police inspector with 29 years service has been demoted to constable after his bosses discovered that his reported illness was to allow him to attend millennium celebrations.

South Wales police inspector Bryant Thomas was caught out after police chiefs decided to investigate all officers who rang in sick over the millennium. A police officer sent to his home discovered from neighbours that Thomas had left his Bridgend home to attend celebrations at a Gloucestershire hotel seventy miles away. The hotel guest book and videos of the partygoers confirmed Thomas’s attendance.

The South Wales Chief Constable, Tony Burden, had previously cancelled all police leave to cope with the anticipated extra demands likely to be placed on his force. Some 3,000 police officers were available for duty within the South Wales force for millennium eve.

After a disciplinary hearing at the force’s headquarters in Bridgend police confirmed that Thomas will be demoted from the rank of inspector to constable. The demotion is likely to result in a wage cut of between £7,000 and £13,000 a year for Thomas.