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Imagine finding out the love of your life never existed.

Donna McLean first heard about undercover police officers having relationships with female activists in 2010 when Mark Kennedy, an undercover police officer who had spent years pretending to be an environmental campaigner, was unmasked. She didn’t realise until years later that she was also a victim of the spy cops scandal.

Over 40 years, British police officers were sent undercover to infiltrate left-wing activist groups. Over 30 women, so far, have found out the men they fell in love were actually spying on them.

In 2015, a message from an old friend turned Donna’s life upside down. She found out the two-year-long relationship she’d had with locksmith Carlo was in fact a lie. He was an undercover police officer.

Donna joined Emma Barnett on Â鶹Éç Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour to discuss how she felt when she discovered the truth. She has now written a memoir called Small Town Girl: Love, Lies and The Undercover Police.