Metropolitan police officers must tell their bosses if they are Freemasons, the force has announced, amid fears membership could be linked to corruption.

Britain’s largest force said anyone who was part or had been a member of a “hierarchical organisation that require members to support and protect each other” must declare it.

The body representing Freemasons condemned the rule and said it would consider legal action.

The issue of Freemasons in the Met has been long-running, but previous commissioners have either thought tougher rules were not justified or not worth the pain.

The current commissioner, Mark Rowley, was moved to act as part of his drive to show the public the force can be trusted.

The Guardian also understands, however, that a recent case of alleged wrongdoing in the force contains allegations that acts under investigation may be linked to Freemasonry.

The Met has held intelligence for years of potential corruption linked to personal relationships formed through membership of the Freemasons, but nothing has been proved.

The force says it surveyed its officers and staff, and that two-thirds backed the restriction because it “affects public perception of police impartiality”.

Commander Simon Messinger said: “After such conclusive results from our consultation, we have decided now is the right time to address longstanding concerns and that public and staff confidence must take precedence over the secrecy of any membership organisation.

“Our decision does not mean any member of staff cannot join the Freemasons or another similar organisation.”

Adrian Marsh of the United Grand Lodge of England said: “Our values of integrity, friendship, respect and service are paramount in Freemasonry and have never been of more importance. We see this action as unwarranted, and we are carefully considering an appropriate response.”

The issue has dogged policing, with numerous allegations that Freemasonry membership has led to people covering up for wrongdoing in keeping the organisation’s credo that members stand by one another.

The official inquiry into the 1987 murder of the private investigator Daniel Morgan and police corruption that hampered the hunt to find his killers recommended tighter rules on Freemasons in policing.

The inquiry’s report in 2021 said: “A source of recurring suspicion and mistrust in the investigations of Daniel Morgan’s murder has been police officers’ membership of the Freemasons.”

It noted that one detective involved was a Freemason who later went to work with a prime suspect, and that “10 police officers who were prominent in the Daniel Morgan murder investigations were Freemasons”.

But it also stated: “The panel has not seen evidence that masonic channels were corruptly used in connection with either the commission of the murder or to subvert the police investigations.”

Police lodges have been set up, such as the Manor of St James for Met officers, and Sine Favore, which was set up in 2010 by Police Federation members.

One of those was the Met officer John Tully, who went on to chair the federation. After his retirement from policing, he was an administrator at the United Grand Lodge of England.

Tully told the Guardian that membership never did him any favours, serving his entire career as a constable. “If they are going to make Freemasons declare their membership, are they going to make them declare their membership of their local tennis club? They need to be consistent,” he said.

The former Police Federation chair Steve White has said Freemasons were blocking reform and thwarting the progress of women and people from black and minority ethnic communities in the ranks.

In a Guardian interview to mark his departure as the leader of rank-and-file officers in England and Wales in 2017, he said: “There have been occasions when colleagues of mine have suspected that Freemasons have been an obstacle to reform.

“We need to make sure that people are making decisions for the right reasons and there is a need for future continuing cultural reform in the Fed, which should be reflective of the makeup of policing.”

The Grand Lodge says of the history of Freemasonry: “The widely accepted view from many masonic scholars is that Freemasonry originates from the medieval stonemasons that built many of our castles and cathedrals.”

It says the first recorded induction of someone into Freemasonry in the UK was in 1646 in Warrington. Members join lodges, with the first grand lodge formed in London in 1717.