THREE separate investigations into police misconduct are to be brought together into a single operation, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said today.

The IOPC said Operation Forbes would provide greater resources for probes into Cleveland Police force, which serves communities around the River Tees.

One complaint covers use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which governs the use of covert surveillance by public bodies, including undercover operatives, bugs, video surveillance and interception of private communications such as telephone calls and e-mails.

Chief Constable Iain Spittal apologised to three journalists for bugging their phones after an investigatory powers tribunal ruled the force had sometimes acted unlawfully.

An investigation into racial discrimination was launched after an employment tribunal in 2015 concluded that PC Nadeem Saddique, now retired, was subject to discrimination due to his race.

The final probe, into complaints about how Cleveland carried out an equality review in 2011, was originally investigated by the Met Police but will now be looked at again.

IOPC operations manager Lauren Collins said: “Given the seriousness of these allegations and the potential links between them, we want to ensure that we have a co-ordinated approach that makes best use of the resources and skills we have available to us.”