London Evening Standard/London

Undercover police used the names of at least 42 dead children to create false identities, a report said yesterday.

The practice of using the names of dead children is “highly possible” to have been widespread among other covert units in the UK in the Seventies and Eighties.

The revelation came as senior police officers issued an apology to the families of children whose names were used.

However, they are refusing to confirm the identities of the children despite approaches by relatives of 15 youngsters.

Mick Creedon, chief constable of Derbyshire, who is leading the review of undercover policing, said police fully recognised the hurt caused by the tactic.

Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said his force should also apologise for the “shock and offence” the tactic caused to families. Creedon’s interim report examines the use of covert identities by the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad.

His report concludes that none of the undercover officers involved in the “deep infiltration” is likely to face criminal charges. He says the use of the tactic was phased out in 1994.

Creedon said undercover officers performed dangerous roles and infiltrated the “top end” of criminal organisations and their “legend” needed to be secure.

He said: “This was not some salacious, immoral use of identities, it was seen at the time as an operational necessity and justified.”

The inquiry found that 147 officers served in the Special Demonstration Squad over 40 years though not all were engaged in undercover work.

The SDS was set up in 1968  to infiltrate anti-war groups following violent protests against the Vietnam War in Grosvenor Square.

Investigators found that 106 covert identities were used by officers between 1968 and 2008 — and 42 of these have been either confirmed or are highly likely to have been used the details of a dead child.

A further 45 have been established as fictitious and work continues to identify the provenance of the remaining identities.