When Clement Burrows was appointed Chief Constable of Oxford in 1956, his starting salary was less than £30 a week.

He was paid £1,450 a year and was promised he would receive annual increments of £50 to a maximum of £1,600.

The salary was fixed by Oxford City Council’s Watch Committee, which was in charge of the city force.

Mr Burrows was the fourth and last Chief Constable of Oxford City Police.

He served for 12 years until 1968, when the force was merged into Thames Valley Police.

He succeeded the retiring Charles Fox, who had been Chief Constable since 1924.

Mr Burrows was a high-profile policeman, not afraid to speak his mind.

He spoke at trades council meetings, addressed the assembled guests at dinners, presented awards, opened bazaars and wrote articles for the Oxford Mail.

At the annual display of the 4th Oxford Boys’ Brigade in 1958, he stressed the importance of youth organisations and urged parents to encourage their children to join them.

A year later, he told guests at the Oxford City Road Club dinner that if more people joined such clubs “we would hear very little of the Teddy Boy trouble we are now facing”.

Mr Burrows often spoke about the city’s traffic problems. In 1959, he revealed that 30,000 vehicles a day passed through Cornmarket Street, Beaumont Street, Worcester Street and Queen Street – and research suggested that traffic would double in 10 to 15 years.

He said: “One trembles and is aghast at the thought of Oxford roads carrying twice as much as they do now.”

One of his innovations was to introduce ‘courtesy cops’ – motorcyclists to keep city centre traffic moving.

He also appointed a special squad to deal with the growing problem of drugs in the city.

But there were also lighter moments, such as when he competed in a 50-yard swimming challenge against the mayor of Oxford, Mr FM Brewer, at Temple Cowley Baths in 1959 and won by three yards.

Mr Burrows joined the police in Somerset in 1927 and was assistant commandant of Bramshill Police College for three years before coming to Oxford.

After the city force was amalgamated, he became Assistant Chief Constable in charge of administration in Thames Valley, and in 1970, became Deputy Chief Constable, a post he held until he retired in June 1972.

During his career, he received the MBE and OBE, the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service and an honorary degree from Oxford University.

Mr Burrows, who was married twice, died of a heart attack, aged 64, six weeks after he retired.