HUGH CADMAN joined Hampshire Chief Constable Paul Kernaghan when the county's top officer went out on the beat in Basingstoke town centre - and the police chief was certainly pulling no punches as he aired his views on a range of issues.

TV star Angus Deayton deserved his sacking - but the BBC should have taken a stronger line on drug-taking.

That was just one of the views expressed by straight-talking Hampshire police chief Paul Kernaghan during a night on patrol with his frontline officers in Basingstoke.

Mr Kernaghan told The Gazette that the BBC's approach to the Have I Got News For You presenter echoed society's ambiguity about drugs. Deayton was sacked from the programme last week after being exposed for his use of cocaine and prostitutes.

Mr Kernaghan said he felt BBC chiefs were too ready to qualify their reasons for sacking Deayton.

He said: "They were not making a moral judgement - they just think it is not compatible with this TV programme. I don't think licence-payers want their money to go on drugs.

"Are we saying drug-taking is not morally reprehensible? I have no axe to grind against the individual but they are saying he cannot do that particular programme but he can do other programmes. It is symptomatic of double standards.

"Anybody who takes drugs is a half-wit. I don't subscribe to the view that drug-taking is the reality and we have to accept it. We spend a fortune in Hampshire on drug education in schools."

Mr Kernaghan was out in Basingstoke last Friday night between 6pm and 2.30am, patrolling the new Festival Place shopping centre on foot and going out with the public order van.

He said: "I look upon Basingstoke as my third city with Southampton and Portsmouth."

The police chief explained the aim is for him to keep his feet firmly on the ground and not lose sight of the day-to-day challenges facing his officers, including the lack of respect shown by yobs.

He said: "A couple with children should be able to walk along without some youth using foul language which intimidates both the child and the parents. You always ask yourself 'what is this youth's background?'

"An elderly frail person has as much right to walk down the street unharrassed as a 19-year-old body-builder. There are minimum standards and, hopefully, we can enforce them with a sense of humour."

He continued: "Is it acceptable for a 15-year-old to be in casualty with alcohol poisoning? Society has to decide."

The chief constable said new shopping centres like Festival Place in Basingstoke were designed with security in mind and he was content for them to employ their own security staff.

He said: "The reality is that we haven't got the resources to have police officers in shopping centres."

Morale in Hampshire Constabulary is generally good, he said, but he added officers were still not convinced that the criminal justice system was working with them.

"We want to see if the Government will deliver on promises to reduce bureaucracy," he added.

He said in Basingstoke he could think of one "young gentleman who is running riot" through the system, to the despair of all concerned.

Do you have a view on what Mr Kernaghan has to say? Write to the Letters Editor, The Gazette, Gazette House, Pelton Road, Basingstoke, RG21 6YD or send an e-mail to editor@basingstokegazette.co.uk