787 of the foreign criminals Labour let walk free 'still at large'

The group - who include sex attackers and violent thugs - should have been automatically considered for deportation on release from prison.

Instead, they were allowed to walk free after a series of Home Office blunders.

Figures released to MPs reveal that just 226 of the 1,013 criminals mistakenly freed in the scandal have been removed from the country.

Some 148 have not even been traced more than a year after the controversy first broke. And in the past six weeks, only one of the missing criminals has been located.

The revelation cast doubt on Gordon Brown's statement earlier this week that "if you commit a crime you will be deported".

Critics said that if the Government cannot even deport criminals at the centre of a high-profile manhunt, it has little chance of success in other cases.

Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said only 226 of the 1,013 foreign criminals who were released without consideration for deportation by the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke - costing him his job - have been removed in over a year.

"This kind of woeful performance will not deliver the Prime Minister's pledge," he added. "If there are legal obstacles to deporting foreign prisoners he should tell us what they are, and deal with them. Otherwise, he should not make claims which he has no intention of meeting."

When the scandal broke in April last year, ministers said all the criminals would be traced and attempts made to send them home.

But figures passed to the Home Affairs Committee by new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith reveal this has happened in just 22 per cent of cases. Of the 553 who have been found and had their cases considered, only 226 have been removed.

The remainder are likely to be allowed to stay because their home countries are considered unsafe or because the courts have upheld an appeal on the grounds that they have a family life in the UK.

A further 302 are currently having their cases considered - and the rest have not even been traced.

The figures will be an embarrassment to the Prime Minister, who said in an interview this week: "If you commit a crime you will be deported. You play by the rules or you face the consequences.

"I'm not prepared to tolerate a situation where we have people breaking the rules in our country when we cannot act."

Opposition MPs point out there are a string of obstacles to fulfilling his promise, including the fact that Britain cannot deport offenders to countries with a poor human rights record.

There is also a bar on sending all but the worst offenders home if they are from another European Union country.

An internal note sent to probation staff said as few as 250 convicts from other European countries will face even preliminary deportation proceedings every year.

The problem, it claimed, is an EU directive which rules that committing a serious crime is no longer sufficient grounds for removal. Neither is a desire to set a "deterrent" to other foreign nationals.

As a result, the vast bulk of the estimated 3,300 European criminals released from jail each year - including burglars, thieves and muggers - will walk free.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Since April 2006, the Home Office has ensured that no foreign national prisoner has been released from custody without first being considered for deportation.

"The Home Office made it clear last summer that public protection was its primary concern and that the Government would seek to deport foreign nationals who have served a significant custodial sentence.

"In the past year, a record number of foreign national prisoners have been removed from the UK - an increase of over 40 per cent in comparison to the previous equivalent period."