Allegations made against a teenage boy that he ‘sexted’ girls at his school could remain on his police file until he is 100 - even though he was never convicted of any offence.

The boy, known only as CL, lost a High Court legal bid to force the police to delete the details of the case.

The teenager, who was 14 and 15 at the time of the incidents, was never convicted of any crime nor even received a police caution. But the details of the incidents could now be disclosed to potential employers under enhanced criminal record checks required before being offered a job.

Under guidance issued by the College of Policing, crime reports in relation to “public protection matters”, including offences of distributing an indecent image of a child or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, may be retained until the subject reaches the age of 100, with a review of their retention to be carried out every ten years.

The High Court refusal to remove the incidents from a file held on CL could affect thousands more children investigated by police for the phenomenon of ‘sexting’.

The boy had first sought to have the incidents deleted three years ago but giving judgment in London on Thursday, Lord Justice Hickinbottom said that “the interference with the claimant’s right to privacy is modest” and that “the retention of the information in respect of each incident is well justified”.