More than 12,000 people have successfully challenged the information held about them by the Criminal Records Bureau over the past five years.

The figure suggests that there is a far higher level of error in the official records than previously thought.

In July, the Home Office revealed that the bureau issued incorrect information on 680 people in 2007/08, but these figures show that the total number of people successfully challenging their details is much higher at 2,785.

More than 3.3 million CRB checks were carried out last year on applicants for jobs involving work with children and vulnerable adults, including teaching, nursing, childminding and volunteering. There have been around 15 million checks made since 2003/04.

Figures released by the Home Office in response to a parliamentary question show that in a total of 12,255 cases during this period information given out by the CRB was successfully disputed.

A Criminal Records Bureau spokesman said: “The CRB’s first priority is to protect children and vulnerable adults by helping employers recruit people into positions of trust. In the last four years, CRB checks have prevented 80,000 unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups.

“Of around 3.3 million checks conducted by the CRB last year, over 99.91 per cent were issued correctly.

“While any disputes are clearly regrettable, the percentage of disputes upheld as a total of the number of disclosures issued has fallen for the last three years.”

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said that: “The increase in the number of incorrect disclosures is disturbing. These are mistakes that risk ruining people’s lives.

“It is especially worrying given the enhanced role of the CRB in support of the new Independent Safeguarding Authority, which will vet millions of people, including teachers, volunteers and school bus drivers.”