A government-funded inquiry has concluded that the DNA profiles of a million innocent people stored on a national database should be removed.

Under current rules innocent people who volunteer DNA samples during police inquiries, in addition to those who are arrested without charge, are permanently stored on the database.

Convicted criminals who have served their time should also have their samples purged from the system, which currently houses forensic information on 4.2 million citizens in England and Wales.

The inquiry argued that, even in the case of a successful conviction, DNA records should be erased because retaining the profile "continues to criminalise them".

The Human Genetics Commission, which oversaw the inquiry, also criticised " lax security measures" surrounding the access that organisations had to the database.

The organisation recommended that the government hand over control of the database to an independent body.

"Currently the DNA database targets the innocent, but not all the guilty," said shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve after the release of the findings.

"We have called for the database to be put on a statutory footing and properly debated."

The inquiry also said that the DNA profiles of 50,000 children convicted of a minor offence should be removed after a recommended period of five years.

Under the current system children as young as 10 can be swabbed, but only if they have been formally charged.