The Keighley father of Hillsborough victim Tony Bland has welcomed the announcement of the biggest-ever inquiry into police actions in the UK, following a hard-hitting report on the disaster.

Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said serving and former police officers would be investigated over what happened on the day of the tragedy in 1989, and during the alleged cover-up afterwards. Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said he would look at whether any individual or corporate body should be charged over the football stadium disaster.

IPCC deputy chairman Deborah Glass said among the officers under investigation would be West Yorkshire Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison.

Tony Bland was the 96th victim of the disaster. He spent nearly four years in a persistent vegetative state after his brain was starved of oxygen in the crush. He was allowed to die with dignity, aged 22, at Airedale Hospital in 1993, after his parents won a legal battle to allow a life-sustaining feeding tube to be removed.

His father, Allan, said the investigation had to be done “thoroughly”.

He said: “It’s going to take time obviously, but it is welcome and we do think it should be done.

“It’s early days really, but I just have to go along with what goes on – it’s going to be a long drawn-out job.”