Return of 'sus' laws as police are given powers to stop and search without giving reason

But Home Office changes fall well short of Tory plans to slash red tape.

The Government has been panicked into action by David Cameron, who said outdated search laws designed to protect ethnic minorities and the young from harassment must go.

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War on violent crime: Police will be allowed to declare 'stop and search zones' in troubled areas

Ministers are prepared to scrap controversial 'stop' forms, and introduce new technology to reduce the amount of time spent scribbling down a person's details.

But the hasty announcement - ordered by Downing Street officials to steal Mr Cameron's thunder - is much weaker than the Tories' own blueprint.

The Conservative leader said the 1ft-long 'stop' form - which police must spend seven minutes filling out every time they simply ask a person to account for their movements - must be ditched altogether.

This would save 900,000 police hours per year, putting officers back on the street.

Instead, officers would use a voice recorder, with information stored back at the station. The Tories said it would save a further 400,000 police hours per year.

More stop and search: Says David Cameron

Most controversially, Mr Cameron also promised a change to the laws covering when a person can be searched even if there are no grounds to suspect wrongdoing.

At present, this can only take place in designated areas on the say- so of a police inspector. Mr Cameron said that, in future, the word of a sergeant should be sufficient to authorise a search.

It would mark a radical departure from laws designed to protect black and Asian people from being unfairly targeted.

They were introduced in 1984 in the wake of riots in Brixton, Toxteth and Bristol by minority groups unhappy with the existing "sus" laws.

But Mr Cameron said: "We are never going to deal with the rise in gun and knife crime unless we free the police to do far more stopping and far more searching. I am quite clear the current rules have to go.

"Stop and search rules were put in place to protect young black and British Asian kids.

"Now it's the young black and British Asian kids that are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them.

"This is a moment in our history when we have to wake up, sit up and have massive social, political and cultural change." However, the Home Office has no plans to allow a sergeant to authorise searches of people in cases where there are no grounds for suspicion. The Government vetoed such a move when it was tabled in the Commons by the Tories last year.

The plans Labour announced yesterday would merely urge officers to make more use of existing powers.

The stop and search form will also remain, with officers simply given new voice recorders to make it easier to record a person's details.

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Officials did, however, indicate the stop form could go, copying the Tory proposal.

Gordon Brown refused to commit to the move publicly yesterday, ahead of a longawaited report by top policeman Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

But his aides briefed that it will be confirmed next week, when Sir Ronnie's study - which will recommend the change - is published.

The Home Office had been planning to wait until next week to make any announcement. But Downing Street leaked the intentions on Tuesday evening after getting wind of Mr Cameron's own policy blitz.