A familiar face at Beccles Police Station has retired after 27 years of service with Suffolk Constabulary.

Sue Wilson worked behind the scenes as the administration clerk at the station – providing admin support to police officers and commanders who have been based there over the years.

During her time in post she has worked with nine different police inspectors who have covered the patch, as well as countless sergeants and PCs who have worked from the station.

Mrs Wilson, who joined the constabulary in 1989, said: “By and large I’ve enjoyed the work and it has been very varied over the years.

“The main change during my time at the station was in technology. When I started the only people who had telephones were the inspector and sergeants, and I had an electronic typewriter and used carbon paper to make copies.

“Initially my role was largely as a typist – officers would write or dictate reports which then had to be typed up so they could be read by anyone. Now officers input everything into computers, reducing the need for this typist function, however I then picked up other work from the officers to free them up for other duties.

“I was sent on word processing courses in the early nineties to learn how to use the new systems being brought in and took on dealing with day-to-day finance, such as petty cash and postages, ensuring the building was maintained, that officers had the right facilities, stationery and kit, and fire alarm testing, as well as secretarial and admin tasks for officers such as minute taking, correspondence and keeping up-to-date records of all kinds.

“There was a very good team ethic and spirit at Beccles, as it was a smaller station, and I felt very included in that because officers always accepted me as part of their team.”

Mrs Wilson was also a founding member of a volunteer group, the 4 Towns Crime Prevention Panel, and worked voluntarily as the secretary for Beccles Area Neighbourhood Watch for many years.

Before she left she met with Suffolk’s Chief Constable Gareth Wilson who thanked her for her hard work and dedication and presented her with a long service award.

Acting Superintendent Paul Bradford said: “Sue’s hard work over the past 27 years has been invaluable. Sue’s dedication behind the scenes ensured everything ran as smoothly as possible and she provided support to officers and staff, carrying out the essential jobs that free up officers to do patrol and investigation work.

“We would like to thank her for being an important part of the team for 27 years and wish her well in her retirement.”

Colleagues also organised a surprise tea party to mark her retirement.

Mrs Wilson said: “One colleague got me out of the building for an hour on the pretence of going for a coffee as it was the last day I would see her at work and I returned to find a room decorated with balloons and banners and lots of food. It was a complete surprise – I had no idea they had been planning it – and it was a lovely special occasion as several other retired colleagues came back to see me.

“I now look forward to spending more time with my husband, and not trying to cram everything into evenings and weekends.”