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CCTV footage showed that Mr de Menezes was wearing a thin denim jacket that could not conceal a bomb and he was not carrying a bag.

Far from running from police, he did not realise that anyone was following him and even picked up a free newspaper before using his season ticket to pass through the barrier.

He began to run only when he saw his train pull into the station. It was only when Mr de Menezes boarded the train that a surveillance officer guided four armed police into the same carriage. Mr de Menezes was shot in the head seven times.

This week it was reported that at least six officers involved in the shooting could face criminal charges.

Sir Ian’s letter, which was copied to IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick and Metropolitan Police Authority chairman Len Duvall, said that the IPCC should not be allowed to investigate the shooting.

Sir Ian wrote: "The current urgency is over the role of the IPCC. There is much concern about revealing either the tactics that we have and/or the sources of information on which we are operating.

"I therefore believe that, in a fast-moving, multi-site terrorist situation, in which suicide bombers are clearly a very strong possibility, a chief officer of police should be able to suspend section 17 of the Police Reform Act 2002, which requires us to supply all information that the IPCC may require.

"The IPCC has a dual role in the sense that it, itself, is under a duty to provide as much information as it can to the complainant or to members of the deceased’s family. This could put further lives at risk in these circumstances.

"I have therefore given instructions that the shooting that has just occurred at Stockwell is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time."

In his letter Sir Ian also revealed his own dissatisfaction with his controversial shoot-to-kill policy for suicide bomb suspects, codenamed Operation Kratos. Mr de Menezes was the first person shot after the implementation of the policy.

Sir Ian wrote: "In due course, I believe we need a document similar to the military rules of engagement but time does not permit its creation at the present time."

IPCC officials claim Sir Ian’s initial resistance to their involvement delayed investigations and that they have had to "work hard" to recover lost ground.

Its lawyers say police breached their statutory duty by not inviting the IPCC to begin investigating immediately and the delay of several days meant vital evidence could have been lost.

Sir Ian maintains that because he believed Mr de Menezes was a suspected suicide bomber counter-terrorism operations had to take precedence over any independent inquiry.

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