The official inquiry into the murder of abuse victim Victoria Climbie has accused a government watchdog of hampering its investigation.

Lord Laming, the inquiry's chairman, said its findings were delayed because the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) submitted a vital report three weeks after the first hearing ended in February this year.

The investigation has re-opened to allow experts to assess the report's implications.

I did not expect to encounter any such difficulty with a department of government

Inquiry chairman Lord Laming

The document casts doubt on an earlier report which backed Haringey Social Services, the department responsible for the eight-year-old.

Victoria had 128 separate injuries on her body when she died, in February 2000, after months of abuse at the hands of her great aunt Marie Therese Kouao and her aunt's boyfriend Carl Manning.

Both are serving life sentences for the child's murder.

The head of the SSI apologised via her lawyer to the inquiry on Tuesday for not realising the document's significance.

Publication delayed

Lord Laming said the actions of the SSI, a branch of the Health Department, had in turn delayed the publication of the inquiry's report into Victoria's death by at least three months.

Denise Platt did not attend the hearing

"I cannot emphasise strongly enough that I did not expect to encounter any such difficulty with a department of government - least of all from one of the departments that established this inquiry," he said.

The inquiry is expected to make radical recommendations for reform of Britain's child protection services.

It will now not be available until December.

Contradictory accounts

Independent Review findings

Haringey Council struggling to meet responsibilities for children/ families Council below average for spending on children and families Social workers dedicated, hard-working and relatively stable But council staff only just coping with workload

The document in question contradicted a report into Haringey Social Services from February of that year which had said service-users were "generally well served".

This earlier report was heavily relied on during the inquiry by the council against charges of incompetence.

However the internal review concluded this report had presented "an overly positive picture of Haringey's social services, particularly children's services".

The document was ready by April 2001 but the hearing was told the SSI presumed the document was not relevant to the inquiry.

But Lord Laming said: "It is manifestly clear that this document was of potential importance to this inquiry."

Denise Platt, the SSI head said, in a statement read out by her lawyer, that "with hindsight" the report was relevant.

"I sincerely apologise for not appreciating this earlier."

Ms Platt did not attend the hearing.