A police chief says he does not want "a group of middle-aged white men" representing his force.
Derbyshire's Chief Constable Peter Goodman has hit back in the controversy over his force's decision to sever ties with a male voice choir.
He said that he did not want Derbyshire Constabulary Male Voice Choir to be a public face of the police, despite it representing the force for more than 60 years.
He added that the choir included no current or former Derbyshire police officers, staff or volunteers.
Mr Goodman appeared on a 45-minute Facebook Live broadcast in order to answer questions from the public.
During that time, many viewers brought up the controversy over the choir being forced to change its name because it does not include any women.
The choir's chairman says he was told by Mr Goodman that he could no longer support an exclusively male choir and that he wanted it to become a mixed voice group.
In the online broadcast, he said he believed that the issue was "a storm in a teacup" and that he was "much more interested in Derbyshire and making sure our communities are kept safe".
He added: "I have to say the Derbyshire Constabulary Male Voice Choir is way down my list of priorities. However, I accept it has become a very topical issue.
"Quite frankly, the male voice choir had very little to do with Derbyshire Constabulary. There were no Derbyshire Constabulary police officers in it and no former police officers in it.
"There were no Derbyshire police staff in it or former members of police staff and indeed, there was nobody who volunteers with the organisation who sang with the male voice choir.
"Never in my term as deputy Chief Constable or Chief Constable have they donated a single penny to the chief's charity.
"So the actual connection was that they practiced at one of our police stations and wore our uniform. If people wear our uniform, they are representing Derbyshire Constabulary.
"Speaking quite frankly, Derbyshire Constabulary does not want to be represented by a group made of exclusively men, almost exclusively older men like myself, and exclusively white males because that's not what kind of organisation we are.
"I've got nothing against male voice choirs. I clearly understand it is very different to a mixed choir.
"I want them to look and feel like the force we want to be and frankly, a lot of quite old white men singing and representing Derby Constabulary is not the kind of impression I want to create."
Members say they have been left "heartbroken" after Mr Goodman told the choir that he wanted them to become a mixed voice group.
Kevin Griffiths, choir chairman, said that the group would "lose all sense of identity" and "would mean recruiting up to 50 new female members to make the balance of the choir work".
Burton Mail readers have made their voices heard over the controversial decision by taking to the website and Facebook page.
Orlando said: "Idiots like Peter Goodman are what is wrong with the police service. More interested with political correctness than catching criminals. He should resign."
Mandy Shrive said: "This is a chief constable who has no understanding of the gender pay gap or equality - sounds like he should do a little research."
Brian Stocks said: "Did this happen on April 1 by any chance? Unbelievable! It is a choir made up of MALE voices what is wrong with that - a long established tradition worldwide - therefore on the same scenario 'The Spice Girls' should include a male member and maybe call themselves 'The Spice People' - ludicrous.
"This 'PC' brigade really need to seek help from a mental health professional."
