£1m Heath sex abuse inquiry to be closed

THE £1million probe into claims that Sir Edward Heath sexually abused children is being closed.

Police are set to wind it up by summer but there are fears that details of the allegations against the former prime minister will never be made public.

A report on detectives’ findings is expected to remain largely confidential. Private investigators and retired detectives hired by Wiltshire Police have been told contracts are not being renewed as inquiries into the late Conservative leader have been exhausted.

The Chief Constable of the force, Mike Veale, is under pressure as MPs have called for his resignation if it emerges that there was no evidence to justify the inquiry.

Yesterday, Lord Armstrong, the former Cabinet Secretary and Sir Edward’s principal private secretary from 1970 to 1974, said: ‘I simply don’t understand how the Chief Constable got himself into such a position.’ But the Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire, Angus Macpherson was ‘satisfied’ that Mr Veale’s inquiry was ‘thorough’.