The chief constable of North Wales Police has been given permission to retire for one day to protect her pension.

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman had requested the Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin’s approval to participate in the national “retire and rehire” scheme.

He then asked for the support of the North Wales Police and Crime Panel in approving the move.

The scheme is a way for police to “retain skills, knowledge and experience of police officers at all levels”.

Agreeing effectively allows Ms Blakeman to formally retire as an officer before being reappointed to the same rank the next day in her £170K-a-year job.

The break in service ensures “pension entitlement can be abated without any impact on entitlement to lump sum or monthly payments”.

A report said the break would “not create any additional cost to the taxpayer”.

Chief Constable Blakeman said: “I’m making this application understanding and knowing I could retire but wanting to carry on with my role, not only because of the fact we have work to do and things to achieve still but also in the changing landscape that we are seeing across policing at the moment.

“Only in the past week or so we’ve seen press articles about the changes of the sizes and scales of forces across the country, and I think it is really important we have an experienced leader at the helm of North Wales Police so we are able to put the voice of our communities forward as those deliberations are taking place.”

Mr Dunbobbin said the retire and rehire scheme was open to all police officers designed to retain their skills.

Ms Blakeman’s reappointment will be for a period of three years, the maximum that can be awarded for a second fixed-term agreement.