Home Secretary Charles Clarke today admitted he had "failed" and had offered to resign, but Prime Minister Tony Blair had turned him down.
The "lost" convicts should have been considered for deportation on their release but had been allowed to go fr
ee.
A total of 1,023 foreign convicts have been let out of jail since 1999 and not assessed for deportation.
The Home Office was alerted to the problem last August but since then a further 288 foreign criminals have been set free. Around 900 remain at large, including five killers, nine rapists and five paedophiles.
Mr Clarke said: "I think I failed and that we failed generally; the Home Office failed in relation to both the operation of the prison service and operation of the immigration and nationality directorate. I told him (Tony Blair) I was prepared to resign if he thought it was right, but he said he did not feel it was right."
Former Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "My view is that heads should roll." Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "This astonishing admission by the Home Office is the latest in a long line of failures which have jeopardised the protection of the public."
