A judge discharged the jury trying Pc Andrew Shovelar after deciding there was not enough available time to complete the case due to jurors' holiday commitments.

After three weeks of evidence Judge Michael Heath told Lincoln Crown Court: "It is the only realistic decision I can take in the circumstances."

The jury had already been reduced to just four men and five women, the minimum number required to consider a verdict.

Of the original 12, one retired for legal reasons and two others were allowed to go on holiday after being told the case would last just eight days when the trial began,

One remaining member of the panel had already been told by they judge that she would also be released at the end of next week to go on holiday to Portugal.

The judge acknowledged that abandoning the case would be expensive but added:"It was made plain that she would be on the plane to Portugal."

The prosecution confirmed they would be seeking a fresh hearing and Judge Heath adjourned the case for a six-week trial at the same court beginning in January next year.

Pc Shovelar had been accused of being a secret control freak who regularly beat his partner when she broke his bizarre house "rules".

But Pc Shovelar (39), denied carrying out a serious of attacks on former partner Tracey Eyett (37) at their home in St Mary's Drive, Sutterton.

Shovelar, now of Pockthorpe Lane, Thompson, near Thetford, Norfolk, denied unlawfully wounding Miss Eyett.

The officer, who is based in Boston, Lincs, also denied five charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on different dates in 2005.

Shovelar received the East Midlands Vodafone Lifesavers Award after he rescued a young boy from a drain in Boston in May last year.

He was also presented with a Royal Humane Society certificate of commendation and a divisional commendation from the Lincolnshire force.