Former Cleveland Police Chief Constable Mike Veale denies making sexual comments as misconduct hearing begins

Mike Veale, formerly of Cleveland Police, is also alleged to have inappropriately commented in front of others that the female colleague and a male senior officer were "bedfellows - metaphorically speaking or otherwise" and then laughed.

Mr Veale, 57, stood down from the force in January 2019, having previously led a controversial inquiry into sexual allegations against the late prime minister Sir Edward Heath when he was in charge of Wiltshire Police.

He faces a week-long police disciplinary hearing in Middlesbrough, where he denies the allegations against him.

If the gross misconduct allegation is proven, the panel could recommend that Mr Veale is barred from working with the police again.

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is bringing the case which follows an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Dijen Basu, for the PCC, summarised the allegations, saying Mr Veale was in a car with a female colleague referred to as witness B and they were on their way to visit the chief executive of Stockton Borough Council in November 2018.

Mr Veale is alleged to have read out a complimentary email he had received from a local councillor, looked at her lap and said "go on, you can touch yourself now", Mr Basu said.

The second allegation states that during a visit to Norfolk Constabulary HQ the following month, in front of other officers at a working lunch, he referred to witnesses B and C, who is male, as "bedfellows, metaphorically speaking or otherwise" and laughed, Mr Basu said.

The comments amounted to a breach of professional standards, the hearing was told.

Mr Basu said the former police chief denies the allegations and said he did not glance at witness B's lap in the car.

The barrister said Mr Veale's explanation was that "he read out an email which was complimentary of him, and was making a joke about the fact she could pinch herself at being in the presence of such a well-regarded chief constable".

Mr Veale did not dispute using the word "bedfellows" but will claim he said it without innuendo, Mr Basu said.

The panel's chairwoman, Sara Fenoughty, agreed to an application by witness B for her evidence to be given in private, away from the press and public.

She confirmed this was not a condition sought by the PCC or Mr Veale.

In a notice published before the hearing, the PCC's office said Mr Veale had made "unwanted remarks of a sexual nature", and that this conduct amounted to "breaches of the Standards of Professional Behaviour".

The hearing continues.