Home Secretary Jack Straw has brought a former top cop out of retirement to investigate the controversial sidelining of Britain's most successful crimefighter.

Mr Straw wants a full review of the management of the controversial Operation Lancet inquiry which saw Det Supt Ray "Robocop' Mallon and seven of his Zero Tolerance cops suspended from duty and a further 53 Cleveland police officer investigated.

The four-year inquiry cost an estimated £6m and levelled 393 criminal allegations against the officers - mostly elicited from convicted criminals.

Officers were accused of trading drugs for confessions, beating up prisoners, tipping off criminals and pocketing informants money - but every allegation was kicked out by the Crown Prosecution Service earlier this year.

Now Mr Straw has asked Sir John Hoddinott, the former Chief Constable of Hampshire, to come out of retirement and lead the probe into the way Lancet has been run.

The Home Secretary has made it clear it is not the decision of the CPS to clear the officers he wants investigated but the way senior officers and the Police Complaints Authority ran the inquiry.

He believes lessons can be learned and wants to ensure a new Police Complaints body he in setting up does not make the same mistakes an Lancet.

The news was today greeted with delight by Supt Mallon, 44, who has consistently protested his innocence but remains suspended despite being cleared of all criminal charges against him.

He said: "I have been calling for some time for a full investigation into the management and direction of Lancet and I am delighted at this news.

"From day one I have defended my actions and those of my officers. We did not break the rules, all we did was cut crime and win back the streets for the honest law abiding citizen."

Renowned as an incorruptible cop Sir John Hoddinott, 56, made his reputation during his 20 years with the Metropolitan Police during which time he smashed Soho's vice underworld by taking on crime bosses and bent cops.

He also carried out a detailed report into the bombing of the Tory party Conference in 1984 and also played a major role in setting up the National Crime Squad.

Before retiring in 1999 he sat on and chaired a number of influential ACPO bodies aimed at rooting out corruption within the police.

In what in thought to be an unprecedented step, Mr Straw has asked Sir John to come out of retirement to conduct the review rather than appoint a current Chief Constable or force Inspectorate.

A spokesman for Mr Straw said: ""The Home Secretary plans to carry out a review of the management aspect of Operation Lancet.

"We have no intention to review the evidence or to consider the findings of the inquiry.

"The purpose in to look at how the Operation was carried out in order to inform the new complaints procedure we are currently working on.

"We believe there may be a number of lessons to learn - as Operation Lancet has been an extremely complex complaints investigation.''

Read more about the Lancet files here.

Updated: 16.03 Tuesday, April 3