Leicestershire police has said it “strongly supports” clearer legislation on retaining innocent people’s DNA.
Yet in the past year, the force refused 22 of 24 requests to remove records from its database. This is despite a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights which has said holding the DNA of innocent people indefinitely was disproportionate and a breach of privacy.
Innocent people faced a “postcode lottery” in whether their details would be deleted from police databases, figures have shown.
Forces such as Nottinghamshire refused to remove records once a case was closed, while others agreed to more than 80% of requests.
Read more in the Leicester Mercury.