A police officer has been charged with assaulting a 16-year-old girl in the back of a police car while she was being detained.

PC Kevin Markowski, who is a serving officer with Nottinghamshire Police, is accused of assault by beating and non-fatal intentional strangulation of a child, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

It said the allegations centred on an incident in Arnold, near Nottingham, on 24 August last year.

The charges followed an investigation by the police watchdog in October, and a referral from the officer’s employing force.

Markowski, 46, is due to appear at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.