Police back down over online site backlash

Officials at HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said they will find a new name for mypolice.org.uk which was launched amid fanfare last month.

Businessmen behind internet venture mypolice.org accused the watchdog of trampling over their work.

They said the official website had swamped their independent police feedback service and left users confused.

After several weeks of discussions, HMIC agreed to change the name of its site, stop marketing it and give up a raft of similar domain names.

Lauren Currie, 23, of Glasgow, who founded mypolice.org, said the deal was "fantastic news".

She said: "We are absolutely over the moon. It is fantastic. They are going to give us the domain names and not refer to mypolice any more.

"We think they are going to consult the public over what they are going to call the new site and we have already given 20 ideas to them."

The announcement was the second major setback for the interactive catalogue of police performance data.

Officials were forced to delay its launch for several days amid teething problems and concerns about a surge of users. Its near namesake aims to improve links between the public and police and was set to go live across the country later this month.

Supporters of mypolice.org sparked a frenzy of speculation on social networking sites when the clash first emerged.

Hundreds of comments appeared on Twitter, Flickr and the comments sections of several technology websites.

The mypolice.org.uk website will soon move to www.hmic. gov.uk/mypolice.