Gary Glitter will likely spend the rest of his life in prison after being recalled to jail, the former head of Scotland Yard’s Paedophile Unit has said.

Mike Hames said disgraced 1970s pop star Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, would always represent a danger to children and a return to custody was appropriate.

The Probation Service said on Monday that Glitter was being recalled to prison following a breach of his licence conditions.

Details of the breach were not given, but it was reported he was caught trying to access the dark web.

Speaking on Times Radio, Mr Hames said Glitter was “not allowed to conduct certain things on his phone”.

He added: “As far as Gadd is concerned, he is so dangerous and so fixated on his offending behaviour that he’ll never stop – he’s gone too far. He’s arrogant, he’s opinionated.

“He’s someone who’s always going to be a danger to children, quite frankly.”

The 78-year-old had been released in February, halfway through his 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

He was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his victims, who thought no-one would believe their claims because of his celebrity status.

The offences came to light nearly 40 years after they occurred when Glitter became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree – the investigation launched by the Metropolitan Police in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

His fall from grace occurred years earlier after he admitted possessing 4,000 child pornography images and was jailed for four months in 1999.

Asked about Glitter’s latest return to prison, Mr Hames said: “[I have] No doubt he’ll serve the next eight years of his sentence… He’ll probably die in prison.”