LONDON'S police chief Sir Ian Blair has dismissed claims that there was an attempted cover-up over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

But the statement by Independent Police Complaints Commission chairman John Wadham - that the Metropolitan Police "initially resisted" the investigation into the shooting of the innocent Brazilian - has to be a cause for concern.

Scotland Yard's resistance is said to have delayed the investigation by five days, during which vital evidence could have been lost.

The fatal shooting of a totally innocent man was always a matter which needed investigating with the utmost urgency and thoroughness by a body independent of the police.

But the need for the truth to be swiftly established has been made even more pressing by recent revelations that many of the initial claims made by the police - that Mr de Menezes had run when challenged, that he was wearing bulky clothing, and that he had jumped a ticket barrier - were false.

Of course, the continuing anti-terrorist investigation has to be the top priority of the Metropolitan Police and the difficulties facing officers cannot be underestimated.

But the fact that an astonishing catalogue of blunders could lead to an innocent man being shot several times is a matter which goes to the heart of public confidence in that on-going police operation.

It is in the interests of everyone - the Metropolitan Police, the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, and the people of London - that all questions are answered without delay.