Adam Rickwood, 14, is the youngest person to die in UK custody

County Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle spoke out after it emerged an inquest into the death of a 14-year-old boy could be delayed for two years.

He said the government's plan for reform by 2007 was too slow.

But Home Office Minister Paul Goggins said he was "prepared to take the time it needs... to get this right".

'Allowed to die'

Home Office figures show that since 1997 the time between a death and an inquest verdict has increased by more than 30%.

"Delay, clearly, is something of great concern to many coroners," said Mr Tweddle.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme his inquests were also delayed by a lack of secure accommodation to house prisoners giving evidence to inquests.

We just got a knock on the door to say that Adam had died. I haven't really been told anything since Carol Pounder

The coroner is due to inquire into the death of 14-year-old Adam Rickwood, who earlier this year became the youngest person to die in custody in Britain when he was found hanged in his cell in Hassockfield secure training centre, County Durham.

The inquest cannot be held until three separate inquiries are concluded.

In turn, the inquiries' results cannot be published until after the inquest, so it is likely to be two years before any answers are made public.

Inquiry urged

Adam's mother Carol Pounder said: "We just got a knock on the door, 20 past three in the morning, to say that Adam had died, and that was it. I haven't really been told anything since.

I am prepared to take the time it needs because we have to get this right Home Office Minister Paul Goggins

"All of the time you are just sat waiting, you just do not know the reason as to why Adam was allowed to die, why other children are allowed to die."

Mr Goggins acknowledged that delays in the inquest system were "frustrating", but that it was important to await investigations by the local authority and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

He told Today that a White Paper on reform would be published early next year.

"It was never on the cards that this was coming forward for immediate legislation," he said.

"We have still to work out the detail of some of the structural changes that we need.

Joseph Scholes, 16, was found hanged in his cell in March 2002

"We have got to get this right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do so."

Meanwhile, the pressure group Inquest is renewing its demand for a public inquiry into the death of a teenager in a Young Offenders' Institution in 2002.

Joseph Scholes, 16, was nine days into a two year term at Stoke Heath, Shropshire, when he was found hanged by a sheet in his cell.

The inquest coroner called for a public inquiry, a request which has so far been resisted by the Home Office.