A victim of drug and sex abuse at a Church of England children’s home has filed a formal complaint against police for releasing details of their investigation to the media.

Teresa Cooper, 49, was subjected to horrific treatment at Kendall House in Gravesend in the 1980s.

She repeatedly reported it to police while she was there, and in the years after it shut in 1986.

In 2009 Kent Police carried out an investigation into the way it had handled allegations of abuse at the home, but found insufficient evidence to pursue charges against those responsible.

After the full extent of the abuse at the Pelham Road home was finally revealed by an independent review last year, the force received a Freedom of Information request for the disclosure of their 2009 report.

Ms Cooper claims the police report clearly identifies her and has begun the process of complaining to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) for what she views as a breach of data protection.

She said: “I do not think it is appropriate for police to send out confidential information that survivors of abuse have given to them in confidence, even if they have put their life in the public domain.

"There’s a lot of information that I never put in the public domain that was in that report.

"The police had no right to send out that kind of information, whether it’s me or anyone else.”

Ms Cooper has written a book about her experiences at Kendall House, Trust No One, and runs the website no2abuse to highlight the issues faced by abuse victims.

A police spokesman confirmed the force had received a complaint regarding the disclosure of the 2009 review, but said it would not be recorded.

They said: “The review had been redacted to remove any personal or identifying features.

"The elements of the complaint were considered but it was decided the complaint should not be recorded as such.

“The complainant was provided with details of how to appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission should they not agree with the decision.”

Kent Police was criticised in last year’s independent review, which was commissioned by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Langstaff, in January 2015, after years of campaigning by Ms Cooper.

Two reports, the first released last June and another in December, exposed more than three decades of cruelty across 137 pages of testimonies from former residents and members of staff.

They found girls as young as nine were injected with drugs, locked in an isolation room, kept in straitjackets, given electric shock treatment at a mental health hospital and raped.

It also said police had missed several opportunities to intervene in what was going on at home before in shut in 1986.

One of the women interviewed said that police had told her the abuse was “in her head”.

Meanwhile, Ms Cooper has stopped pursuing legal action against the church over birth defects suffered by the children and grandchildren of former residents due to costs.

Her daughter Sarah was born with a cleft palate. Her two sons and grandchild also have serious health issues.