HAMPSHIRE police and crime commissioner Simon Hayes will face no action over a complaint that he misrepresented his home address.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) passed the results of its investigation into the allegation to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which decided on no further action.

Mr Hayes and Winston Roddick, the commissioner for North Wales, were accused of being misleading about their homes on nomination forms for the commissioner elections of November 2012.

They were interviewed under criminal caution and denied any wrongdoing.

The CPS decision on Mr Hayes contrasted with Mr Roddick, where the IPCC found that there was no evidence to support the allegation and so did not pass a file to the CPS.

Last night Mr Hayes said: “I’m pleased that this has been investigated in a thorough way and found that I lived in Hampshire, which is what I knew all along.

“When any allegation is hanging over somebody there must be a doubt in people’s minds as to whether there is any truth in it. A complaint was made and it was not founded. It is uncomfortable to be investigated and to have people thinking you have done something wrong. But that comes with public life.”

Asked whether he was unhappy that the IPCC sent his file to the CPS, unlike Mr Roddick, he said: “The fact the CPS looked at my case, I am quite comfortable with that. It got the correct attention. The IPCC erred on the side of caution and the CPS found there was no case to answer.”

A spokesman for the CPS said: “To stand as a candidate for the post of PCC an individual must be resident in the area. Residence is decided by looking at not only the question of whether someone was at or not at a particular address on a particular date but also why that was so.

“Therefore, a person living at an address temporarily may be considered to be resident there if he has no home elsewhere, but not resident there if he does. Although Mr Hayes was briefly absent from the address provided, a temporary absence does not deprive a person of their residence. We do not consider that Mr Hayes had another permanent home elsewhere and therefore consider him to be resident in the area.

“As such, we have determined there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate the information entered on the nomination form was false and have advised the IPCC that no further action should be taken.”