London bobby plods off to work 20,000km away

By JULIET ROWAN


Chris McKee gives new meaning to the words "long-distance commute".

For the past four years, the British cop has been travelling to his job in London from his home in Dunedin. And yes, that's Dunedin, New Zealand.

Constable McKee's 20,000km commute sees him spending about six weeks with his wife and five children in the beachside suburb of Saint Clair, followed by six weeks working the beat in Hammersmith, West London.

The arrangement is possible because of a flexi-time system in London's Metropolitan Police Force.

Mr McKee's hours are more extreme than most, but many officers in the Met choose to work seven 12-hour days and then have the next week off.

Some commute between the city and houses in the countryside.

Others live overseas, with Spain reported to be a favourite destination among the travelling bobbies.

Mr McKee, 45, and his wife Maggie, 39, think there is nothing unusual about his long flight to work.

But in the last few days they have found their routine the subject of very public scrutiny.

The British Sun newspaper got wind of Mr McKee's story while looking into Met officers commuting from Europe.

One who lived in France reportedly told the newspaper that his situation was nothing compared with Mr McKee's.

The Sun got hold of Mr McKee and ran a story headlined, "Very long arm of the law".

Yesterday, Mrs McKee began to be flooded with calls from New Zealand media.

She told the Herald last night that she could not understand the sudden attention.

"We've been doing this for four years.

"We're just a normal family," she said.

Mr McKee is in London now but will be back in time for Christmas.

Mrs McKee and the children, aged 3 to 18, miss him when he is away but know that when they do have him at home they have his undivided attention.

"When he is here, he doesn't have to work. It's completely family time," his wife said.

Mr McKee told Britain's Independent that he used to take the stress of the job home with him.

"Now I'm a lot more fun with the kids when I am in New Zealand and I can be totally focused on what I am doing at work," he said.

He had always wanted to live in New Zealand.

His father came from Waikaia, near Gore, and it was his dream to return to the family farm.

He brought Mrs McKee, a Londoner, to the South Island on a holiday when she was 22. "Everywhere I looked was all green. It just terrified me," she said.

But four children later, she started to think it would be a good place to raise a family.

They made the move and have never looked back.

Mrs McKee's verdict on Dunedin? "It's absolutely the best place in the world. It's the sunniest place I've been, even when it's cold."

Mr McKee's 30,000 pound ($79,200) salary goes a long way in the Edinburgh of the south. He had also made money on the property market in London before moving to New Zealand and planned to use a hefty police pension to retire in four years, before he turned 50.