The deputy chief constable for North Yorkshire Police has spoken out after a magazine article accused him of not adhering to Covid-19 regulations.

In the clipping from the Private Eye Magazine posted on social media, it mentioned that Deputy Chief Constable Phil Cain had retweeted an article about officers fining "two idiots" after a 100-mile, non-essential journey to Scarborough.

It goes on to say: "The day before, DCC Cain had tweeted about how he had attended a ceremony to celebrate 50 years of services by a staff member at, er, Scarborough police station, illustrated with a picture of him standing next to the woman in question, less than two metres apart.

"The round trip from police HQ in Northallerton to Scarborough is 104 miles."

Calling the article "irresponsible journalism", DCC Cain took to Twitter to explain why he did not break the rules.

He wrote: "1. I was on uniformed patrol as a warranted officer. 2. As a senior leader I was checking on welfare of team. 3. No retirement do or other celebration. Just popped in to say thank you for 50yrs service whilst there.

"'Two idiots' headline is from regional newspaper not me."