A policewoman is suing the Metropolitan Police for £200,000, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind, after having to watch 100 child abuse videos.

Cara Creaby, 29, is seeking compensation for the "psychiatric injury" she claims to have suffered while investigating the rape of three young girls, one of whom was aged 11 at the time of the offence.

The officer alleges that the "harrowing and dangerous material" has left her with "intrusive flashbacks and nightmares" and post traumatic stress disorder.

Mrs Creaby, from Hemel Hempstead, became the main point of contact in December 2014 for three young girls suspected of being victims of grooming and sexual abuse over three years by Michael D'Costa.

She formed an "emotional bond" with the girls, who she supported and interviewed during the investigation, and was simultaneously required to watch videos, for "at least eight hours at a time" of them being "sexually abused and degraded".

Mrs Creaby, who joined Scotland Yard in 2009 and three years later was appointed to the force's Sapphire Unit, handling child abuse cases, searched D'Costa's home and seized more than 100 videos of him abusing the girls and a diary of his attacks.