Senior police officer, Inspector Chris Dreyfus, was denied promotion to chief inspector level after it was discovered he had previously received a disciplinary warning from his seniors at British Transport Police over posting personal information about his gay lifestyle on the social networking website Facebook.

Dreyfus’s Facebook page included graphic details about his gay lifestyle and featured photographs of him posing in his uniform at a London Underground tube station. He admitted on the site that he was interested in men and was looking for “whatever I can get”. Dreyfus had also posted suggestive comments to other Facebook users.

After his bosses became aware of this, Dreyfus took down all references to his job as a police officer but maintained his right to post online about his private life claiming there was “nothing sexually explicit” on his site. “As long as I do not do anything to disgrace the force then what I do privately is acceptable” he said.

“After the interview (on 13 February) we ran routine background checks and we were told he had a live sanction against him", a spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said

“Therefore we felt unable to proceed with the job offer.”

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed that the disciplinary warning had been issued in relation to personal information entered on his Facebook page.

He added staff must not post any information on websites that could bring the force into disrepute.