The crisis engulfing Home Secretary John Reid continues to rage after police revealed they had warned officials of a legal loophole which allowed hundreds of convicted sex offenders to disappear without trace.
The latest storm was triggered by the disclosure that police around the country had lost track of 322 registered sex offenders who they - together with probation services - were supposed to be monitoring.
The details were obtained by the News of the World which submitted questions to all 50 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Home Office insisted the disappearance of the offenders was an "operational matter" for the forces concerned.
However, Police Federation chairman Jan Berry said they had warned three years ago of a loophole which allowed offenders to escape monitoring by giving only vague addresses when they were entered on the Sex Offenders Register.
"We warned the Government about three years ago when they were reviewing the Sex Offenders Register that some of the addresses that people were giving were sometimes a postcode, sometimes a park bench," she told ITV1's The Sunday Edition. "I think they listened but I don't think they had a solution and sometimes if you don't have a solution you don't talk too much about it."
A Home Office spokeswoman acknowledged that homeless sex offenders could register as being of no fixed abode.
However, she said they still had to give a location where they could be found on regular basis, with a penalty of up to five years in prison if they were not there when police checked. Overall, she said that 97% of offenders complied with the requirements of the register.
"The Government is committed to protecting the public and is determined to strengthen arrangements for dealing with sex offenders in the community," she said. "In June the Home Secretary commissioned a comprehensive and thorough review of child sex offenders."
Mr Blair acknowledged the Home Office had "huge problems", but pointed to the recent drop in recorded crime as evidence it was getting to grips with the issues.
