Foreign crooks have been left free to commit crimes in Britain - because prosecutors mislaid a data disc.

Police have now launched a manhunt to trace 15 dangermen.

The disc with the crooks' details and crucial DNA samples was delivered to the Crown Prosecution Service in January 2007 - then lost for more than a YEAR.

It finally turned up after a search last week, sources say.

During the time it was missing, 11 of the crooks are believed to have been responsible for assaults, thefts and burglaries in the UK.

Their details were among 2,000 sent over by Holland as part of a drive on unsolved murders and rapes.

The Dutch authorities had wanted to cross-check them with UK data.

Shadow police minister David Ruffley said: "Government incompetence has put the safety of our citizens at risk yet again."