The country's top police officer Sir Mark Rowley has said he is in favour of putting more details about a suspect into the public realm more quickly.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner's comments are a significant intervention in the debate over whether the ethnicity of those arrested on suspicion of serious offences should be publicised.

It followed the controversial decision of Merseyside Police to reveal the suspect arrested on suspicion of ramming a car into crowds at Liverpool's victory parade was a white British man.

That decision raised questions over whether the police would be as willing to put details of ethnicity in public if the suspect was not white British.

But speaking on the BBC this morning, Rowley said: "In general I think we gave to be realistic and more often put more personal details in the public earlier.

"I it creates all sorts of practical problems.. but we're in such an age of citizen journalism, people have screen shots, phones.

"Some content will be all over social media very quickly. People will be making guesses and inferences.

"I think in that world, putting more facts out is the only way to deal with it.

"And if those facts generate or embolden racists in some cases, then we need to confront those individuals.

"I think trying to avoid truths when half the truth is in the public domain is going to be quite difficult going forward."