A serving police officer with Scotland Yard's elite firearms unit has admitted misconduct in public office by lying about his training.

Pc Ryan McGowan, 35, from West Sussex, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday charged with fraud and misconduct.

He pleaded guilty to an amended count of misconduct by falsifying a form about his training record and health screening but denied a charge of fraud by misrepresentation.

Prosecutor Paul Raudnitz said McGowan "failed to attend all training" and a "one-stop shop health screening".

McGowan acted as a firearms officer from April 1 2013 to January 6 2015, Mr Raudnitz said, despite not having been to all the training.

"If those circumstances had been known he would not have been able to act in that capacity," he added.

Explaining why McGowan pleaded not guilty to the fraud charge, defence counsel Neil Saunders told the court: "What he says is, 'yes, I was wrong to fill in the card in that way on that date', but his behaviour is not such that he acted after that in an improper way."

Judge Anthony Leonard QC agreed to leave the fraud charges on file and ordered a pre-sentence report for the officer.

McGowan, who serves with the Specialist Firearms Command (SCO19), has been suspended from duty since January last year.

He was granted bail and will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on October 27.