THREE police officers accused of giving misleading evidence over the "plebgate" scandal will have to face a fresh inquiry.

Those involved may also face contempt of parliament charges if they refuse to apologise to MPs.

The new probe comes after a report by the Commons home affairs select committee accused the trio of "obstructing the truth" when they initially appeared before the committee.

Police Federation representatives Inspector Ken MacKaill, Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton and Sergeant Chris Jones were all told they would face no action for misconduct over press statements they made after a meeting with former chief whip Andrew Mitchell in October last year.

The meeting was in response to an alleged foul- mouthed confrontation Mr Mitchell had with police in Downing Street the ­previous month, where it was claimed he referred to the officers as "plebs". But the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced it would hold its own ­investigation into the ­officers' behaviour after finding "procedural irregularities" in how the initial inquiry was dealt with.

Sgt Jones and Det Sgt Hinton have also been called to appear before the committee tomorrow after being accused of giving "misleading" answers to MPs on October 23. The committee wants the pair "to apologise for misleading it" or face disciplinary action.

The committee's report said the officers' evidence was "possibly deliberately" misleading, lacked credibility and was contradictory.