But the 50-year-old father of three was comforted by the knowledge that his family's proud history of serving the public would continue well into the 21st century.

Steve's son, 21-year-old Matthew, currently working in the force control room, will become a fully fledged police officer in the spring.

Matthew has been inspired by his father's career, which began at the tender age of 16 as a police cadet in Peterborough, and included protecting the Queen and former US president Bill Clinton.

But Steve was also inspired by his son, who nearly died of bronchial pneumonia when he was just six months old, but battled to overcome the illness.

It motivated a fund-raising drive, which continues to this day, and has seen Steve raise just under £120,000.

Speaking of his career, Steve said: "I don't regret a minute of it. I have been privileged and honoured to work with some of the most motivated, professional and focused people, at all ranks, and I have had the opportunity to do things which people in other walks of life would not.

"I am supportive of Matthew going into the force, and if he has the opportunity to do the things I have done and work with the people I have worked with, inside and outside the organisation, and have as much fun as I have had, then he will be a very lucky young man."

Steve, a former pupil at The King's School, in Peterborough, became a police officer at the age of 18 (the joining age had just dropped from 19), and was based at Bridge Street, then the only station in the city.
In his final school year, he was still unsure where his future lay, but his uncle was an officer in the Metropolitan Police, and a school careers event was also influential.

Since then, his career has taken him from Bridge Street to Whittlesey, Wisbech, traffic and firearms at Cambridgeshire police's Huntingdon headquarters, and, most-recently, Chord Park, in Godmanchester.
In 1993, he was on the project team that implemented the new tactical firearms unit (TFU), a department where he then served as chief instructor and inspector.

He moved back to northern division in 2001, where he became a sector inspector, and eventually the chief inspector for communities and partnerships in 2004.

He was made detective chief inspector, and took up his final role in August 2005.

Steve has worked on several murder investigations, was part of the police standards unit teams that went to the Toxteth riots in Liverpool in 1981, and was involved in the top-secret police operation to secure the Molesworth nuclear missiles site in 1984.

During his time with the firearms unit, he carried out close protection duties for many members of the royal family, including the Queen and Prince Charles (but to his disappointment not Princess Diana) and former president Clinton and former Prime Minister John Major.

As well as four London Marathons, his charity work has included three-peak and 14-peak challenges, a drive around the country's football stadiums for the Holly and Jessica appeal, and a garden makeover at the children's hospice in Milton.

Steve will not be letting his years of experience go to waste in his retirement. He will manage a team of four analysts at the Oakington-based Internet Watch Foundation, which combats the distribution of images of child sex abuse on the internet and monitors sites which aim to stir up racial hatred.