Sussex Chief Constable Paul Whitehouse has got into an extraordinary mess over problems with his family.

It was bad enough when his daughter Frances appeared three times in two years in local courts on counts of violence.

Bad went to worse this week when Frances gave her side of the story.

She told papers she felt she was being picked on by Sussex police officers because of who her father was.

Worse still was the allegation made by the Chief Constable's wife, Elizabeth, that the force did not understand its own domestic violence policy in relation to their daughter. Then it was revealed the Whitehouse family is housing, not only Frances, but also the boyfriend who carried out attacks on her.

Now Mr Whitehouse has sent a memo to his officers saying he regrets the timing of the allegations and did not know they were going to be made.

Really? Well he should have done.

The least his daughter should have done is to have told him.

Mr Whitehouse is asking officers for their support but has not offered them a great deal in return in his memo.

What on earth are they supposed to do if Frances Whitehouse is involved in further violence?

The Chief Constable and his family have placed themselves in an impossible position over the Frances affair.

They have shown an astonishing mixture of pride, arrogance and ignorance.

He should waste no time, for the sake of ordinary members of the force, in announcing his departure from office.