The genetic profiles held by police for criminal investigations are not sophisticated enough to prevent false identifications, according to Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, the father of DNA fingerprinting.

The increasing number of records being held on the British police database — currently about 2.5 million — meant that having only 10 markers per person was no longer foolproof.

He suggested 15 or 16 markers to reduce the chances of two people having the same profile to one in more than a trillion.