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A police officer found to have sent inappropriate text messages to three women has been sacked.

A disciplinary panel on Thursday found Gwent officer PC Robert Davies' actions amounted to gross misconduct.

He acted inappropriately and breached integrity in phone and text messages, the panel decided.

The panel said messages sent by the 50-year-old officer to the women, two of them considered vulnerable, were sexually motivated.

Panel chairman Callum Cowx said the officer had been "predatory", with "multiple victims" and had a malign intent in his contact with the women.

"He carried on knowing it was wrong," he said.

The messages and calls were all made from the police-issued mobile device.

In one message he told a woman referred to as Ms B who had reported stalking that she was "gorgeous".

In a text to the sister of a victim of crime he was dealing with he wrote: "No naughty dreams".

Another text to a woman referred to as Ms A read: "I expect you are still as much fun as you have always been. I was thinking of you being naughty with me. If that sounds ok. I need someone who is fun".

In messages to a woman known as Ms B, a recovering drug addict with a long criminal record including two prison terms, he wrote: "You are important to me" and invited her for coffee when lockdown was over.

The panel was also told he later attended a self-help group to which the woman belonged.

He was told that in the case of Ms B and Ms C he "should have known they were vulnerable".

In the case of Ms B, he claimed he was trying to support her with issues including housing and develop her as a potential source of information for the Gwent force.

The panel said he should have told superior officers about the contact and his plans.

Counsel Jonathan Walters said: "The public is rightly concerned about the conduct of this officer, as is Gwent Police."

The officer, a divorced father-of-three, had 28 years of service and was a special constable before joining the force full time.

The three-person panel was told the officer had a strong Christian faith and wanted to help people. He denied trying to was trying to foster an emotional or sexual relationship with the women.

Pam Kelly, chief constable at Gwent Police, said that PC Davies's behaviour "does not meet the high standards we expect of all our officers and staff".

"He is now facing the consequences for his unacceptable behaviour," she added.