Extramarital affairs should be considered “dangerous red flags” when hiring police officers, the head of the watchdog has told the Times.

Michael Lockwood, director-general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, said that vetting of recruits must be “more intrusive and diligent” in order to get rid of “baddies”.

“Many individuals are attracted to policing because of the power. Many of the people that are getting in can exhibit what I call ‘red flags’,” Mr Lockwood said. 

“And it’s important that where there are previous disciplinary issues — prior sexual behaviour, even extramarital affairs — those red flags should indicate, don’t progress. They’re dangerous.”

He added that social media posts and other background details should be examined when hiring officers. Nationwide, police forces are seeking to hire 20,000 extra officers after the government replaced posts that were cut during the austerity years of the early 2010s.

“I’m just saying, ‘look at people’s background, look at their history’. These are officers that are going to need to have public confidence and will be dealing with vulnerable people. There’s quite a high benchmark we need to have,” Mr Lockwood said.

While an affair shouldn’t be enough to block a recruit, the director-general said, it should indicate to the recruiter that “something’s not right”.

Police forces across Britain are under scrutiny after several high profile cases of toxic culture, including the rape and murder of Sarah Everard as well as discriminatory messages sent by officers at Charing Cross Station.