TWO police officers have been barred from their force for gross misconduct - after having sex on duty in a squad car.

The officers were caught when their secret meet-ups were recorded by their police car GPS devices.

A panel heard the pair would separately drive their cars to remote areas so they could meet when they were supposed to be on duty.

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And a disciplinary hearing was told a female officer - named only as Ms B - performed a sex act on a male colleague in a police car.

But the cars' data trackers were recording their movements and tracked their secret trysts.

The pair have been barred from the police force after a disciplinary panel found allegations against both officers proven and amounting to gross misconduct.

The shamed officers - named only as Mr A and Ms B - would have been dismissed but quit Gwent Police when the allegations came to light.

Panel chair, Christopher McKay slammed the pair for their "deplorable" behaviour and said that their actions had "undermined public confidence in the police force".

He added: "All the contact Mr A had with Ms B was during working hours when he was on duty and this was to the detriment of Gwent Police and the public.

"The fact he was with Ms B in remote locations is likely to have prohibited his ability to respond to calls.

"Ms B sought to minimise her own responsibility for her actions and sought to blame Mr A.

"She was not a victim but a willing participant in what happened between her and Mr A."

Earlier in the hearing, presenting officer Jonathan Walter said their secret relationship came to light after anonymous phone calls were made to the force.

He said: "Anonymous phone calls were made to Gwent Police alleging that Ms B and Mr A were meeting in remote locations whilst on duty and at Ms B's home address for the purpose of a sexual relationship.

"The investigating officer obtained GPS Tetra Mapping data to show the likely whereabouts of Ms B and Mr A in relation to each other whilst they were on duty."

The hearing was told that the data revealed that the officers were together on a "large number of occasions when there was no policing reason for doing so".

In an interview, Mr A admitted that there would be "kissing and cuddling" when they were both on duty.

Mr Walters said: "To Mr A's eternal credit he did not flinch from telling the investigating officers exactly what happened."

The pair also met up at Ms B's house for sex while Mr A was on duty.

Mr Walters added: "There is no doubt that Ms B and Mr A were seeing each other during working hours in early 2018 and by no later than March, this had developed into an emotional relationship.

"Ultimately, the relationship between Ms B and Mr A developed into a sexual relationship."

Mr A admitted that two allegations against him amounted to gross misconduct.

Ms B admitted meeting with Mr A while he was on duty and to sending a sexualised photograph to Mr A while on duty.

She denied sexual contact with Mr A while on duty and argued that her action amount only to misconduct rather than gross misconduct.

However these allegations was found proven by the panel who found it also amounted to gross misconduct.

An allegation that Ms B had taken an x-rated picture while on duty was also found proven but found only to amount to misconduct.