FORMER top cop John Dwyer will be turning his hand to some petty thieving, breaking and entering and industrial espionage, all in the name of security.

The Nantwich businessman, who was Cheshire's Assistant Chief Constable, is now the managing director of a private investigations and security company.

His anti-social escapades are part of a new 'integrity and security testing' service being launched by his company Public Services Investigations, designed to spot weaknesses in business security systems.

John, whose company utilises a nationwide network of 400 retired police officers, said: "Unfortunately, the only time some business owners accept that they have a security problem is after a break-in or a serious theft.

"Until that happens many tend to think that it will never happen to them.

"That is why we have devised this new service aimed at testing existing security systems that are in place within businesses.

"I and my colleagues will then use our years of police experience to see whether existing systems are foolproof or not.

"This will entail more than a crime prevention visit, although we intend to go over the basics too.

"But we will really test the security within a company to see how easy or difficult it would be for an offender to commit a crime whether he be an opportunist crook or a professional industrial spy.

"Not only can we pinpoint weaknesses in security systems we can offer comprehensive advice on ways to

plug those loopholes.

"We can also draw on specialist expertise to look at other areas from alarm systems to IT security issues."