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THE Metropolitan Police have responded to allegations of racism made by British Olympic gold medallist Linford Christie after two of his athletes were stopped and searched in Maida Vale.

The two athletes , aged 25 and 26, trained by the former sprinter, were stopped with their three-month-old baby in the back seat of the car and detained for a search at lunchtime on Saturday.

Footage shared by Christie on social media, which had been filmed by the female international athlete in the back seat, shows the driver, her partner and also an international athlete, leaving the car with his hands raised.

As she protests at the officers detaining him, other officers move towards her and start holding onto her and start pulling her out of the car as she protests that she has a baby with her.

“I don’t want you to look after my kid,” she said as police tell her to calm down and that they are being detained.

“Get out of the car and we don’t need to do this”, a female officer said, explaining they had been stopped for a search under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Police eventually found nothing after a search of the car and the athletes were allowed to continue on their journey home.

“Two of my athletes were stopped by the police, both international athletes, both parents of a three-month-old baby who was with them and both handcuffed outside their home,” said Christie in a statement on Twitter after sharing the video with the words: “Racist police aren’t just in America #BLM.”

He added: “Can Cressida Dick or anyone please explain to me what justification the Met Police officers had in assaulting the driver, taking a mother away from her baby all without one piece of PPE and then calling the sniffer dog unit to check the car over.

“Was it the car that was suspicious? Or the black family in it which led to such a violent confrontation and finally an accusation of the car smelling of weed but refusing to do a roadside drug test.

“This is not the first time this has happened (second time in two months) and I’m sure it won’t be the last, but this type of abuse of power and institutionalised racism cannot be justified or normalised any longer. #BLM #MetPoliceRacist.”

The Met Police released a statement on Sunday confirming the car had been stopped in Lanhill Road by officers from the Territorial Support Group, who had been patrolling the area in response to “an increase in violence involving weapons”.

“Officers witnessed a vehicle with blacked out windows that was driving suspiciously, including driving on the wrong side of the road,” the statement reads.

“They indicated for it to stop but it failed to do so and made off at speed. The officers caught up with the vehicle when it stopped in Lanhill Road. The driver initially refused to get out of the car.

“The occupants, a 25-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, were informed that they were being detained for the purposes of a search under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

“Following a search of the vehicle, the man and the woman, nothing was found. No arrests were made and the occupants were allowed on their way.

“Police are aware of a video circulating on social media showing part of the stop. Each stop is dealt with on its own merits at the discretion of the individual officers involved, taking into account various aspects, including behaviour and compliance.

“Officers have to make these judgement calls regularly on a daily basis, often in difficult circumstances. They understand that their actions will be scrutinised as they go about their work and that the public have the right to hold them to account where appropriate.

“Officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards have reviewed both footage from social media, and the body-worn video of the officers, and are satisfied that there is no concern around the officers’ conduct.”

Commander for Central West BCU Helen Harper said: “I understand the concern when incidents like this happen and how they can appear when part of it is filmed without context.

“Due to the concern raised, we conducted a review of the stop. This included social media footage and body worn camera footage of the officers at the scene. We are satisfied that there are no misconduct issues.”