Carrick, 48, a firearms officer with the Met's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was jailed for at least 30 years in February after he was unmasked as one of Britain's worst ever sex offenders.

The Met was forced to apologise and admit the PC should have been rooted out earlier after it emerged he came to police attention over nine incidents before he was prosecuted, including allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment between 2000 and 2021.

But the force didn't identify any conduct matters following a review into any reports which could have led to action being taken against Carrick sooner.

He remained a serving police officer until his arrest in October 2021, when he was suspended, and was finally sacked after admitting 49 offences, including 24 rapes.

The police watchdog invoked its rarely-used "power of initiative" to launch four investigations into alleged failings by the Met in investigating allegations made against him in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2021, which included harassment, assault, criminal damage and rape.

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The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said five serving Met officers, including a detective constable, a detective sergeant, a detective inspector and two chief inspectors are under investigation for gross misconduct.

A former Met officer, now working for the City of London Police, and two officers who have retired from the force are also facing gross misconduct probes, while a serving Met staff member and a PC are under investigation for misconduct.

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: "After carrying out an initial scoping review of police handling of allegations against Carrick earlier this year, we made the decision to launch investigations into multiple alleged failings of police officers and staff who assessed and/or investigated allegations made against him.

"If these matters had been adequately progressed, Carrick could potentially have faced gross misconduct proceedings and been dismissed from the police service years before he was eventually arrested.

"While we've notified a number of officers that they are under investigation, this does not mean that disciplinary proceedings will automatically follow. At the end of each investigation, we will determine whether any individuals should face disciplinary proceedings.

"From our scoping review, we've also identified a number of learning opportunities for individual forces as well as national recommendations which we are currently progressing."

The IOPC said a Wiltshire Police constable and an inspector have also been served with gross misconduct notices as part of an investigation looking into whether the force failed to properly investigate a report made against Carrick in 2016.