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The e-petition, on the government's dedicated site, asks Gordon Brown "to give the formation of a police central e-crime unit, as proposed by the Metropolitan and ACPO, urgent priority".

Such a body has previously existed, but was folded into the Serious Organised Crime Agency last year.

The supporting details for the petition say that the loss of records by HMRC make a centralised, well-resourced e-crime unit a "matter of great urgency".

It argues such a body should investigate all computer crime, "including information and identity theft from data and call centres, not just the use of the internet to automate old crimes and invent new ones".

"I think there's a need for it," says Neil Stinchcombe, head of public relations for Infosecurity Europe, and the petition's originator. "We wanted to make government aware of it, and to push them to pay for it rather than the private sector."