PC Charlotte Peters, 33, of Luton, had sex with a rape victim in a McDonald's toilet

A woman police officer who had sex with a rape victim in a McDonald's toilet has been thrown out of the force.

PC Charlotte Peters, 33, became involved with the vulnerable woman when she was working for the Metropolitan Police's sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command.

They first kissed as Peters, of Luton, Bedfordshire, took the woman's fingerprints before sleeping together at the woman's grandfather's house last February.

Peters refused to leave her partner for the victim and the PC threatened to kill herself when the victim told staff at the refuge where she had been housed.

The officer was arrested in March following an investigation by the Directorate of Professional Standards Specialist Investigations team.

Peters, who was on the sexual offences investigative techniques team (SOIT), admitted misconduct in a public office.

She turned towards the public gallery and mouthed 'I love you' to her partner as she was jailed for 22 months at Southwark Crown Court in December.

A Met Police misconduct hearing was told Peters, who has a master's degree in sports science, joined the force in June 2006 and was posted to Islington borough.

She joined the sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command in July 2015, working as a SOIT officer until her arrest and subsequent suspension.

Peters became involved with the vulnerable woman when she was working for the Metropolitan Police's sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command

Her commanding officer, Detective Chief Superintendent Ivan Balhatchet, said Peters was 'a popular member of her team' who would have had a 'promising career ahead of her.'

Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said Peters' conviction 'seriously undermines public confidence in the police.

'Having considered the matter fully and having regard to the nature and severity of the breaches of the standards of professional behaviour, my decision is that PC Peters is dismissed without notice.'

Prosecutor Kate Bex had told the sentencing hearing how the affair was discovered after the victim told staff at the refuge because she was 'tired of being her dirty little secret.'

'The fallout from that disclosure was inevitable. Staff told her they were obliged to report it. The victim withdrew what she had said to the staff member, then asserting it had been attention-seeking lies.'

The victim told police she was 'in love with Ms Peters' adding: 'I knew she would get in trouble, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.'

Judge Anthony Leonard QC, told Peters the relationship was a 'gross breach of professional responsibility'.

Peters admitted misconduct in a public office in criminal proceedings. She also admitted gross misconduct in a police hearing and was dismissed without notice.