The Metropolitan Police Service is failing to train officers how to deal with protest in the modern world, an inquiry into the G20 protests has warned.

Denis O'Connor, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said the force must improve before the eyes of the world focus on London during the Olympics.

He has completed an inquiry into police tactics during the G20 Summit in the capital in April.

The Met has come under heavy criticism following the death of death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who was pushed to the ground by a police officer shortly before he died, and amateur footage which showed a police sergeant apparently slapping protestor Nicola Fisher.

Attention also focused on the use of "kettling" tactics, which involve trapping protestors in a small area, sometimes for hours.

Mr O'Connor said he was concerned that officers were not taught about the importance of respecting human rights, following a visit to the Metropolitan Police Service Public Order Training Centre in Gravesend.

He said in his report: "The range and appreciation of public order tactics taught at the training centre are also inadequate for the policing of modern protest."

The force should carry out "a review of current public order training including an examination of tactics (such as the use of shields and batons) ensuring that they are subjected to medical assessment," he said.

And he warned: "The impact of human rights legislation is of particular relevance when considering containment as a tactic."

While police might sometimes need to contain protestors, they should ensure "vulnerable or distressed persons or those inadvertently caught up in the police containment" were allowed to go free, he said.

And Mr O'Connor called on the National Association of Chief Police Officers, which represents senior officers nationwide, to draw up new guidance before the 2012 Olympic Games, when forces from across Britain will send officers to the capital to assist the Met.

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