Mark Dixie, who murdered teenage model Sally Anne Bowman, and Suffolk serial killer Steve Wright were both caught after their DNA was taken for unrelated offences and linked to the crimes.

The detective who led the hunt for Miss Bowman's killer said Dixie would have been arrested within 24 hours if a countrywide DNA register were in force.

But the Home Office said a compulsory database would raise "significant practical and ethical issues".

Policing minister Tony McNulty said the Government felt the balance was "about right" already on the question of the DNA database.

"I understand the debate around universalism," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I understand the debate from people... who would rather the database disappeared in its entirety. We think the balance and the fairness and proportionality is about right where it is now."

DNA samples and fingerprints are already taken on a routine basis upon most arrests.

A Home Office spokesman said: "There are no government plans to introduce a universal compulsory, or voluntary, national DNA Database and to do so would raise significant practical and ethical issues."

Lincolnshire Chief Constable Tony Lake, chairman of the national DNA database board, added: "I understand the arguments but I have to say I and many of my colleagues are not convinced of the need for a universal database."

The UK's existing DNA database could come under threat on Wednesday when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules in a test case involving two Britons who want their details removed. The applicants - who have never been found guilty of a crime - argue their human rights have been infringed by the decision to leave their details on the database.