Bungled Home Office stats withdrawn
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has been forced to withdraw new race crime statistics after it emerged they were riddled with errors.
As reported by the Press Association on Thursday, the Home Office said racist incidents reported to Dorset Police had soared 556% when the true figure was 56%.
An investigation by ITV News has shown there were a range of other similar mistakes.
Thursday's official figures said Hertfordshire's race incidents were up 123% but they were in fact down by 8.2%.
Similarly, North Yorkshire's rise of 224% was actually just 26%, and in Nottinghamshire the rise was 5% rather than the 28% in Home Office papers.
A statement on the Home Office website said: "The reports have been removed from the public domain for a brief period while we clarify a few issues in relation to the racist incidents statistics which forces have alerted us to."
It is the latest in a long line of statistical errors and financial oversights by the Home Office.
In February, the National Audit Office (NAO) delivered a devastating rebuke over the Home Office's finances.
In an unprecedented move, the auditors refused to approve the Home Office's accounts because they were riddled with inconsistencies and were handed in 10 weeks late.
In December, the Tories accused the Home Office of using "bogus, inappropriate and spun" figures to back up its controversial 24-hour drinking reforms