The police watchdog will examine the parallels between child sexual abuse and strip searching minors as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into allegedly illegal procedures at music festivals.

Law Enforcement Conduct Commission head, Michael Adams, QC, told a public hearing into claims three teenage boys were unlawfully searched at an under-18s event that strip searches conducted without legal justification "may well be indecent assaults".

A police sniffer dog inspects a music festival patron. Credit:Marina Neil

"When one is dealing with a subject such as strip searching of young people, the inevitable sexual content of such events cannot be overlooked," he said.

"This is especially so with the experience that we have obtained, particularly in the last decade, of sexual interferences of various kinds with young people."