Scotland Yard has called in the police watchdog over allegations that an undercover officer took part in a criminal trial under a false name.
Jim Boyling, a specialist operations Detective Constable with the Met Police, is accused of maintaining an alias throughout court proceedings after being arrested following a demonstration in 1996.
Scotland Yard has contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) "with a view to making a formal referral to them tomorrow", a force spokesman said.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "The MPS has tonight, Thursday October 20, contacted the IPCC with a view to making a formal referral to them tomorrow.
"This follows consideration today of allegations relating to historic covert police deployments."
The allegations forced the postponement of the publication of a review of the future of undercover policing, which was scheduled for Thursday, and had been compiled by new Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe before he took the force's top job last month.