THREE of the Borough of Poole's most experienced officers, all of whom have worked their way up from the bottom rung, leave the council at the end of the year.

Two are taking early retirement and the council's longest serving employee is being made redundant in a shake-up of service units.

To many people Bob Harris, whose job as head of democratic services will disappear, is the face of Poole council. He joined as a tea boy at the age of 16 and would not have retired for four years.

"I have accepted it reluctantly," said Bob, 61. "The timing is not of my choice and the situation would not have been necessarily my choice at this time."

His unit of 44 staff is to be merged with legal services, headed by Chris Eames, who is taking early retirement at the age of 52. The council has decided a lawyer should head the new department.

"My sadness is that democratic services as a single unit will disappear," said Bob, who will leave the council at the end of January.

But he will continue his work with Poole Sports Council, the Echo-backed Festival of Running and bringing up to date the council's files on its previous elected members until next summer.

Chris Eames will step down from his unit of 20 staff and six registrars at Christmas, after 35 years in local government, 20 at Poole, to live in Normandy.

He joined Brighton council as an administration assistant and tea boy. "Law is never as difficult as the lawyers make you believe. I have had a very good team around me and most of the time it's been a hoot," he said.

Policy director Fred Davies, 56, became Poole's first director of social services in 1997, having started work at a children's home in inner London, and by mutual consent is leaving when his contract expires at Christmas.

"We have established many partnerships with other agencies both public service, private and voluntary, developing many services that were not available in Poole such as family support services and treatment of drug dependency," he said.

First published: August 20