THE has been ordered to improve its databases after it emerged 32 per cent of its records contained errors.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) said growing use of police cameras which read number plates meant it was even more important to improve accuracy of the records.

The inquiry into the way the Government has tackled car crime praised the Home Office for reducing car thefts and vehicle break-ins by 30 per cent since 1999.

But there was scope for even more success in combating the crimes which cost Britain about £2.1 billion a year, it said.

More progress was needed to improve security in a large number of car parks, said the auditors, and it is still too easy for criminals to give stolen cars the identities of "written-off" vehicles from salvage yards.

The NAO report said: "Vehicle record accuracy must be improved to facilitate the more effective use of automated enforcement. Tighter regulation of salvage operators should make it more difficult for the identity of written-off vehicles to be used to enable stolen vehicles to be re-sold.

"The Home Office needs to remind local authorities of their obligations to set up a register of motor salvage operators."

NAO chief Sir John Bourn said: "Many of the initiatives to tackle vehicle crime have yet to be fully implemented."

In 2003 and 2004 there were an estimated 241,000 vehicle thefts and 1.3 million vehicle break-ins.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears said: "I am pleased that the independent NAO recognises the significant achievement that the Home Office has made in cutting car crime."

A spokesman said: "Government’s top priority is to improve record accuracy. The information in the NAO report relates to a survey carried out in 2003. Since then, a number of major initiatives have been introduced to improve record accuracy. The survey indicated that the police have no difficulty in tracing vehicle keepers from data in over 90 per cent of cases."