TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Wiltshire Police officer who died aged 75.

James Davey, known as Jim, was born on June 4, 1942 and died on July 1.

He was born in Plymouth and worked for his father’s butcher shop and Thomas Cook before joining the Royal Air Force in 1961.

In 1965 he was posted to Old Sarum, where he met his wife to be Pauline Boyes and her two children, Peter and David.

The pair married in 1966 in Salisbury and had a daughter, Lyn, in 1967 before being posted to Hong Kong with the RAF Police.

After nine years of service, Jim left the RAF. He became an officer for Wiltshire Police after the local MP intervened, as Jim had previously been turned down for being three-quarters-of-an-inch too short.

He served in Melksham for five years and returned to Salisbury in 1975. During his police career, Jim worked at the miners’ strike, at the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985, as a beat bobby and in the police control room.

Jim had a passion for driving and also served as an advance driver, as well as covering in the Coroner’s Office.

He received his Long Service medal after 22 years in the force, and retired four years later in 1997.

After retiring from the police, Jim continued his passion for driving and became a taxi driver in Salisbury, before moving to Tisbury and working for Camberley Autos in 2003. But he was not out of the police for long, and after retiring fully he volunteered to work at the enquiry office at Tisbury Police Station.

After the death of Pauline in 2010, Jim joined various social groups and enjoyed gatherings and trips out. He was also a keen Facebook user and this allowed him to keep contact with friends, family and ex-colleagues.

Jim’s family said : “We have loved hearing and seeing pictures from ex-colleagues and it has put a lot of smiles on our faces, his caring nature is remembered by many.”