Police 'slow to remove DNA profiles'

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said just 377 profiles were deleted in 2009 after appeals to police chiefs.

Liberal Democrat Paul Holmes, who uncovered the figures through a written parliamentary question, described the situation as a “disgrace”.

Mr Holmes said chief constables were being discouraged from removing the genetic fingerprint of innocent people until new legislation is passed, which would not happen before the election.

The DNA database for England and Wales holds over five million profiles – the largest per head of population in the world – including an estimated million people with no criminal conviction.

The European Court of Human Rights has said that holding the profiles of innocent people indefinitely was a breach of privacy rights.