Mr Oaten has criticised the reaction to FBI intelligence

A lack of convictions and prison sentences since the FBI handed over the list suggested the intelligence was not being properly exploited.

A home office spokesman said resources were being made available but the way they were spent was down to police.

Mr Oaten said: "The [anti-paedophile operation] Ore list was an absolute gift to the police."

He added: "It provided clear evidence of named individuals accessing abusive images.

"The police and the Crown Prosecution Service have failed to turn that intelligence into convictions and prison sentences."

Convictions?

Home Office figures from minister Paul Goggins outlined in a letter to Mr Oaten suggested Britain's Operation Ore had led so far to 3,205 searches.

From those 723 suspects were charged and 277 people have been convicted so far.

The Home Office spokesman said that from the year 2000-2001 to 2003-4 policy funding would have risen by �1.8bn - a 24% rise.

He added: "The National Policing Plan made clear that child protection is a priority and should be part of mainstream, day-to-day policing.

"This obliges forces to include child protection strategies in their local policing plans, strengthening their partnership arrangements and carefully selecting and training staff working in this area.

7,000 UK names

"Practical decisions about how the police allocate the additional resources and manpower we have made available rests with the police themselves."

The figures handed by the FBI to police in England and Wales in 2002 related to 5,700 names all of whom were alleged to have used their credit cards to bay subscription to Texas-based company Landslide Productions.

That provided links to 300 pay-per-view child porn sites.

In total there were 7,000 UK names among an estimated 75,000 international subscribers, including The Who guitarist Pete Townshend who was subsequently placed on the sex offenders register after accepting a police caution.

He said he had accessed the website for research purposes.