UNDERCOVER cop Carlo Soracchi is alleged to have used public funds to pay for a romantic trip to Venice with a woman he was deceiving, the spycops public inquiry heard last week.

The infamous officer, known by his undercover name Carlo Neri, was said on Wednesday to have paid for both flights and accommodation with money from the Metropolitan Police.

Internal police documents revealed the expenses, which Mr Soracchi had justified by saying that he was travelling with British campaigners to “consolidate and extend” relations with socialists in Italy.

But the woman he deceived into an intimate relationship lasting about a year said the trip had in fact been a “classic romantic break in a city associated with romance.”

Mr Soracchi pretended to be an activist for six years while spying on left-wing and anti-fascist groups for the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS).

In a written statement, he told the inquiry that the SDS had authorised and paid for the trip, claiming its purpose was “for Socialist Party activists to hold discussions with Italian activists of similar leanings.”

The woman he was deceiving, identified only as Lindsey, explained that there were only three people on the trip and that they had spent most of their time visiting tourist sights and enjoying Venice’s architecture.

She said she had fallen in love with Mr Soracchi in 2001 but would have never consented to dating him if he had not hidden his real identity.

She told the inquiry that, just before Christmas, Mr Soracchi had surprised her with airline tickets, saying: “I remember feeling so overwhelmed and flattered that he had organised this for us. I felt loved.”

The cost of the trip has yet to be disclosed.

Lindsey is one of three woman conned into a relationship by Mr Soracchi.