BBC journalists have been criticised for potentially damaging the police investigation into false allegations of a Westminster VIP paedophile ring.

Home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds showed two photographs of boys who went missing in the 1970s and 1980s to Carl Beech at a meeting in 2014, according to a report.

The family of one, Martin Allen, was later spoken to by police officers, as Scotland Yard investigated whether he was one of three youngsters murdered in allegations invented by the fantasist previously known as "Nick".

READ MORE: VIP paedophile ring probe to be investigated by police watchdog

In his review of the Operation Midland investigation, Henriques said: "The upset caused to that family is one of several distressing aspects of this case."

He said police should have warned BBC journalists of the "potential damage they were causing to the investigation".

Sir Richard added: "The photographic identification by Tom Symonds was fundamentally flawed and would not be admitted in a court.

"'Nick' may be a suggestible victim and may have wanted to identify someone in order to seek closure."

A BBC spokeswoman said: "The photographs of two boys were shown to Beech in order to test the veracity of existing newspaper reports which had contained speculation linking the boys to Beech's allegations and the Metropolitan Police investigation.

"At this point Operation Midland was already under way and Beech had been interviewed at length by the police.

"We are satisfied our reporter's actions did not contravene our editorial guidelines and we note and respect the findings of Sir Richard Henrique's independent review."

The now-defunct Exaro news agency, which ran a string of stories about allegations of sex abuse by people in the public eye, is also criticised in the report.

It said: "There can be no doubt that 'Nick' received information and assistance from Exaro and other journalists that misled Midland officers and contributed to their concluding at an early stage that 'Nick' was credible."

The report said Exaro journalists took "Nick" on a tour of London to identify places where alleged abuse had occurred, while he was also shown photographs and supplied names by investigative reporters.

"This intrusive conduct caused difficulties for the Midland officers which I have not overlooked," Henriques added.