STAFF at Gatwick’s deportation centre will come under scrutiny in an independent inquiry after allegations of abuse towards detainees.

G4S, the security firm contracted by the Government to run Brook House, has commissioned the inquiry into the attitude and behaviour of its staff towards those being deported from this country.

Six members of staff were fired from the centre following a BBC Panorama investigation in September in which Callum Tulley, a former custody officer, filmed some of his colleagues mocking, abusing and assaulting immigrants. More staff were disciplined by G4S as a result of the incidents.

Verita, an independent consultancy, has been commissioned to carry out the inquiry into Brook House, which is located near Gatwick Airport.

However, it is unclear whether the findings will be published.

The Brook House inquiry will also inspect G4S’s treatment of detainees and its “operational policies and management”.

G4S’s failings in regard to its whistleblowing procedures will also be looked into.

The centre holds up to 508 men, and controversy has long surrounded it, with a number of concerns raised regarding detainees. It is one of two centres in the country run by G4S, along with a number of prisons staffed by its employees.

In an inspection conducted earlier this year by the chief inspector of prisons, it revealed four men had been held at Brook House for more than two years, while the average length of detention had increased from 28 days to 48 days. The centre was deemed “reasonably good” for safety, respect, activities and preparation for deportation or release.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye, told the home affairs committee last month that she was “disgusted” by the behaviour revealed in the Panorama investigation. She told the committee: “It is completely unacceptable, and they have put together a plan of implementation to correct it.”