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Reports in the Independent suggest that the tags would be similar to those used to track pets, and would contain personal information including name and criminal records.

According to the report, the chips would initially be machine readable and used to enforce curfews and home detention, though it says the ministry of justice is also looking at ways of tracing the chips through

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a satellite tracking system, such as the one currently used to trace stolen vehicles.

The move follows proposals from Ken Jones, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, which recommended that paedophiles and sex offenders be implanted with tags in order to monitor their movements, and ensure they stay away from restricted areas such as schools.

A plan to satellite monitor the ankle tags used in the "prisoner without bars" project was scrapped last year amid concerns that prisoners could too easily remove the ankle bracelet.

Human rights campaigners have reacted angrily to the scheme.

"If the Home Office doesn't understand why implanting a chip in someone is worse than an ankle bracelet, they don't need a human-rights lawyer; they need a common-sense bypass," comments Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, to the Independent.

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