SENIOR detective Superintendent Sean Memory, who was involved in the inquiry over rape and sexual assault allegations against Sir Edward Heath, has retired on medical grounds.

Det Supt Memory has been signed off from work at Wiltshire Police on long-term sick leave since January 2017.

He was in charge of Operation Conifer, the force’s two-year probe into allegations against the former Tory prime minister. Its report, costing £1.5 million, concluded that seven claims against Mr Heath were enough to justify questioning him under caution.

Had he been alive, he would have faced questions over allegations that he raped and indecently assaulted boys as young as 10. He died in 2005 at the age of 89.

Mr Memory made a TV appeal outside Mr Heath’s former home in August 2015 urging potential victims to come forward to police. It was later revealed that Mr Memory was under investigation for misconduct in relation to a separate matter.

Regulations allow for an officer to give notice of intent to resign or retire while the subject of misconduct proceedings if medically unfit.