5,000 complaints made against Met

Scotland Yard's riot squad has received more than 5,000 complaint allegations, mostly for "oppressive behaviour", it has emerged.

Details of all allegations lodged against the Metropolitan Police Service's territorial support group (TSG) over the last four years reveal that only nine - less than 0.18% - were "substantiated" after an investigation by the force's complaints department.

The figures, released to The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed the TSG has been subject of 5,241 allegations since August 2005.

They include 376 allegations of discrimination and 977 complaints of "incivility".

More than 1,100 of the allegations concerned what members of the public said were "failures in duty".

However, by far the largest number of complaints - 2,280 - were categorised as "oppressive behaviour".

Just over 2,000 (38%) were "unsubstantiated" by the force's department for professional standards, while the rest were resolved at the police station, dismissed, discontinued or dealt with in other ways.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the force treated allegations of misconduct by officers "extremely seriously".

The TSG is a specialist squad that responds to outbreaks of disorder anywhere in the capital.

It is under investigation for the most high-profile cases of alleged brutality at the G20 protests, including the death of Ian Tomlinson.