Footage of a police officer explaining that a young black man was detained for a drugs search in Bromley because he had vaseline in his car has sparked controversy.

The man was later charged with obstructing a drugs search after he was stopped by police on Bromley Road last Friday afternoon. 

The two minute clip, viewed over one million times, shows an officer outlining the grounds for search to a group questioning their conduct.

The female officer says: "To search someone, we have to have reasonable grounds to suspect. 

"One of those things in this scenario is that there is vaseline in the car. 

"Sadly, a lot of people like to plug drugs up their bum. 

"To get it up there they use lubricant, and a lot of the time that lubricant is Vaseline."

Critics claimed the incident is an example of profiling, questioning whether it was possible for police to see the Vaseline before the man was stopped. 

One Twitter user said: "What she said made no sense.

"The vaseline was found after the search.

"What were the 'reasonable grounds' for the search in the first place?"

Another said: "I have Vaseline in my car right now. And I’ve had Vaseline in my car for years.

"I’ve never been stopped for this reason.

"And if I was, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t result in 6 police officers, a police van and myself in handcuffs.

"Wonder why?"

Police later said the driver refused to exit his car after he was stopped for "driving suspiciously."

After some time, he exited the car and was detained for the purposes of a search under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

He then allegedly refused to cooperate and was arrested for obstruction, only to be de-arrested once the situation had "de-escalated."

Due to the crowd that had gathered, police said they decided the search should take place at a police station, where he again obstructed officers, so was re-arrested and charged. 

He is due to appear at Bromley Magistrates' Court on August 14.

A police spokesperson said: "Police are aware of a video circulating on social media that shows part of the incident.

"Each stop and search is dealt with on its own merits at the discretion of the individual officers involved, taking into account various aspects including behaviour and compliance

"Officers have to make these judgement calls regularly on a daily basis, often in difficult circumstances.

"They understand that their actions will be scrutinised as they go about their work and that the public have the right to hold them to account where appropriate.

"No formal complaints have been received at this time."