A black girl student who was taken out of her school exam hall in London and strip-searched after being wrongly suspected of carrying drugs is suing the Met Police, according to a BBC report.

The 15-year-old, also known as Child Q, is also taking civil action against her school, the law firm Bhatt Murphy said.

Scotland Yard has apologised after a subsequent report found the search was unjustified and racism was "likely" to have been a factor.

During the incident, the girl was taken out of an exam to the school's medical room and strip-searched by two female Met police officers searching for cannabis.

Her intimate body parts were exposed and she was made to take off her sanitary towel, according to the review. No drugs were found, BBC reported.

The girl’s lawyers said she wanted "cast-iron commitments to ensure this never happens again".

In a statement, she said: "I want to thank the thousands of people across the world of all backgrounds who have offered me support – both publicly and through messages conveyed to my legal team – following everything I've been through.

Hundreds of people attended a protest organised at the police station.

According to media reports, the victim's mother told the safeguarding review that after the strip-search, her daughter had been "asked to go back into the exam" but no teacher bothered to ask about her welfare.