VITAL criminal conviction details are not being logged on time by North Yorkshire Police, evidence to the Soham murder inquiry has revealed.

The force did not enter a single court result into the Police National Computer (PNC) within seven days in December last year - the worst record in England.

But a force spokesman today said moves were being made to improve the situation and North Yorkshire Police were confident they would then be among the best performers in the country.

The target for seven days is to record 90 per cent of cases on the PNC, which is used to check if applicants are suitable to work with children.

Over 28 days, the force managed to log 13.9 per cent of cases - 17 out of 122. The national average was 84 per cent.

The figures emerged in Home Office submissions to the Bichard Inquiry, which is investigating how Soham killer Ian Huntley was able to land a job as a school caretaker.

Huntley - jailed for life for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman - had faced a string of sex allegations before applying for the post.

The inquiry will focus on how police intelligence was handled, the vetting practices used and why information was deleted by Humberside Police, where Huntley lived at the time of the allegations.

It will also examine the systems used by police for inputting information to the PNC.

The inquiry also found that North Yorkshire has one of the best records in England for logging arrest and summons reports in 24 hours - 90.8 per cent. The national average was 77.7 per cent.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said it would not be appropriate to respond in detail to the figures while the Bichard Inquiry continued.

But he said that moves were in hand to place responsibility for updating directly with the courts, cutting police staff out of the chain and saving time.

He said: "We have been developing a new computer programme over the last year, together with the magistrates courts, that is working towards an automatic updating of PNC. Once the benefits of this new system are fully integrated into our systems, we are confident that not only will we meet current targets, we will be among the best in the country."

Updated: 10:33 Thursday, February 19, 2004