A senior West Midlands police officer has been dropped a rank after allegedly referring to a BMW car as "black man's wheels".

Former Superintendent Chris Pretty was reportedly demoted to Chief Inspector following a misconduct hearing last week, after complaints were made about his comment made at the Tally Ho training centre in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police confirmed that a senior officer had been subject to disciplinary proceedings.  She said: "We can confirm a misconduct panel has taken place involving a senior officer, in relation to comments made at Tally Ho training centre on Wednesday September 19, and he has been dealt with in the appropriate manner."

The comments were reportedly made at a leaving party held in Birmingham, at which Mr Pretty, then head of training, was given the model BMW as a present, as he was transferring to another area.

The force spokeswoman added: "West Midlands Police expects the highest standards of professionalism and integrity from all its officers and staff and has robust procedures in place to deal with behaviour which falls outside those standards.

"When complaints are made against officers we carry out robust, thorough and proportionate investigations to ensure the integrity of the organisation."