UNDERCOVER cops deleted files from a police database to cover up the hacking of campaigners’ emails, a police whistleblower has alleged.

Officers reportedly deleted the files in May 2014 to conceal the fact that a policeinstructed operative had spied on journalists and environmental and social-justice campaigners.

Scotland Yard’s national domestic extremism and disorder intelligence unit, which was behind the spying, is one of a number of covert squads under the scope of the upcoming Pitchford undercover policing inquiry.

Green peer Jenny Jones, who has raised the alarm about officers shredding files relating to her own surveillance, was provided with the information by the whistleblower in a letter, her spokesman confirmed to the Star yesterday.

Ms Jones’s lawyers confirmed with six of the 10 targeted activists that their email usernames and passwords were the same as those the whistleblower had stated.

Ms Jones then referred the whistleblower’s letter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the public inquiry team.

“The personal information within the letter is accurate and it could only have been obtained illegally,” she said.

“There is more than enough to justify a full-scale criminal investigation into the activities of these police officers and referral to a public inquiry.

“I have urged the IPCC to act quickly to secure further evidence and to find out how many people were victims of this nasty practice.”

An IPCC spokesman said the agency was “still assessing the scope of the investigation” and could not make further comment.

The whistleblower, who formerly worked for the covert unit, said passwords had been passed on by a “covert human intelligence source,” a term agencies use for their spies.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the unit worked with police in India who used hackers to illegally obtain passwords.

The upcoming inquiry will consider abusive practices including the deception of women activists into relationships with officers, and spying on trade unionists.

Inquiry chairman Sir Christopher Pitchford said: “I welcome Baroness Jones’s decision to bring these allegations to the attention of the inquiry.

“In my view, the IPCC is undoubtedly the right body to investigate ... At present the inquiry is unaware of any connection between the allegations in this letter and the inquiry’s terms of reference.

“We would welcome the opportunity to speak with the author of the letter and I would urge that person to contact the inquiry on terms of confidentiality.”