The official is alleged to have then recorded the experiences in an Excel spreadsheet as well as secretly photographing his female colleagues' legs – in behaviour that spanned a 10-year period.

In French newspaper Libération several women, some of whom were being interviewed for jobs by him in his capacity as an HR manager, spoke of their humiliation at wetting themselves in front of him.

The case began in 2018 when the man, named in French media as Christian N, was spotted by a colleague secretly photographing a woman's legs during a meeting.

In the subsequent investigation, an Excel spreadsheet was found on his computer, listing more than 200 times he had spiked women with diuretics in the workplace.

He was sacked from the French civil service and the Paris Prosecutors Office opened an investigation.

He has now been charged with administration of harmful substances, sexual assault by a person abusing the authority conferred by his office, invasion of privacy by image fixing, violence by a person entrusted with a public service mission and violations of drug legislation.

He told reporters from Libération that it was “compulsive” behaviour which he is now receiving psychiatric care for.