SIR Stephen House has been hired by London police to sort out a major row over the disclosure of evidence in rape cases.

The former Scottish chief constable has come out of retirement to help the Metropolitan Police shore up procedures amid concern over the safety of hundreds of English sexual assault convictions.

Sir Stephen will take up a post of assistant chief constable at Scotland Yard next month.

His appointment comes after the collapse of the rape trial of a 22-year-old student called Liam Allan when it emerged messages that cast doubt on the claims against him had not been provided to his lawyers.

Thousands of rape prosecutions are currently being reviewed by forces across the country – including about 600 by the Met – in the wake of claims that officers may not have given all relevant evidence to defence teams.

However, there had been speculation that Sir Stephen would return to the Metropolitan Police for some months. Current Met Commissioner Cressida Dick is understood to hold the former Scottish and Strathclyde chief in high regard. Glasgow-born Sir Stephen served with Ms Dick when he was an assistant commissioner at the Met.

Sir Stephen, left Police Scotland in 2015 following outrage over the deaths of Lamara Bell, 25, and her partner John Yuill, 28, who lay undiscovered in the vehicle near Stirling despite a call from a member of the public.

Ms Bell was still alive when officers finally found her close to the M9, but later died.

The error came after intense media and political scrutiny of Sir Stephen, 60, who had helped forge the new single force and served as its first ever head.

He faced significant criticism over Strathclyde stop-and-search tactics – so called consensual searches – being expanded across the country. In fact, stop-and-search numbers fell under the single force while controversy about them rose.

Despite political rows and serious budget problems north of the Border, English police chiefs have looked to Scotland with envy. Officer numbers under the single force have been retained while England and Wales’ forces suffer substantial cuts.

Sir Stephen is taking the job at a time when the UK capital’s police force has the lowest officer numbers for decades and crime figures are rising. Violent crime has started edging back up in Scotland but saw historic reductions under Sir Stephen.

Ms Dick said: “There is a huge amount of transformation taking place within the Met and at the same time we are dealing with rising demand and big operational challenges.

“Steve has a strong track record in tackling violent crime – particularly domestic violence, knife and gang crime – both within the Met and then with huge success in Scotland.”

A statement from Scotland Yard added: “One of his key initial tasks will be to co-ordinate the Met’s response to the challenges raised recently in respect of disclosure policy and practice.”

Some senior officers in England have called for greater use of computing to identify and disclose evidence for cases like that of Mr Allan.

Scotland is currently without a full-time chief after Sir Stephen’s successor, Phil Gormley, resigned following a protracted investigation in to several claims that he bullied subordinates.