Huntley was hired despite prior accusations against him

The details have been given to the Bichard Inquiry, which is examining how Huntley, who killed two girls, had been cleared to work at a school.

Plans for new guidelines on the Data Protection Act have also been mooted.

Humberside Police said the act required them to delete records of sex allegations against Huntley.

The proposals for clearer guidelines follow revelations that Huntley was employed as a caretaker at a Soham school despite police knowing about previous sex allegations.

Burden on police

He was convicted in December of the murder of pupils Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

The following day Home Secretary David Blunkett announced an inquiry.

The Home Office is likely to set out standards which they expect police forces to adhere to The BBC's Danny Shaw Q&A: New data protection guidelines

On Tuesday it emerged in evidence that the Audit Commission had looked at the accuracy of crime data in Humberside in 2002/03.

Overall it was given an "amber" grade on performance, which means moderate.

But the north-east Lincolnshire division - which covers Huntley's former home of Grimsby - was graded "red", meaning that there were "some serious problems to be resolved".

Meanwhile the Police Federation warned officers were still deleting records at the same rate as when Huntley was vetted for the caretaker job, because they were afraid of mishandling information.

In its submission to the inquiry, it said: "In the event of a mistake the burden is on those police officers personnel who handled the data.

"This can lead to over-cautious data handling which is to the detriment of the public interest."

'Soft' intelligence

The inquiry, chaired by former civil servant Sir Michael Bichard, will examine how police intelligence was handled, the vetting practices used and why information was not shared between agencies that dealt with Huntley.

A working group met for the first time last week to review the current guidelines.

Ministers are also considering setting up a national database of allegations and intelligence on reported crimes, to complement the police national computer, which contains details of convictions and cautions.

Some forces already store this "soft" intelligence for as long as possible.

Huntley had previously faced four accusations of rape and one of indecent assault on an 11-year-old girl in Grimsby.

He was investigated by the police on several occasions.

Evidence published

Humberside police said on Tuesday it welcomed the proposed data protection guidelines.

"Without wishing to pre-empt Sir Michael Bichard's findings, the force does look forward to sharing our experiences with other police forces, agencies and the Home Office."

On Monday, the inquiry published evidence from organisations including the Home Office, the Police Federation, the Law Society and the civil rights group, Liberty.

Submissions have also been received from Cambridgeshire and Humberside Police.

Each was asked for details of any contacts with Huntley, a statement on their policy on using and retaining information relating to alleged offenders and suggestions on how to handle this information in future.

Counsel to the inquiry James Eadie will make an opening statement on 26 February. From 1 March there will about seven days of live evidence.