The police should issue a business card to people stopped and asked to account for their movements under proposals to be published tomorrow.

A draft copy of the review of policing ordered last year makes a series of recommendations to reduce the red tape in policing, address the risk-averse culture that has developed and improve information technology throughout the police service.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, writes: "The 21st-century police service is in danger of becoming a slave to doctrine and straitjacketed by process."

The report said that people had been given penalty notices for chalking on a pavement and for building a snowman by the side of the road that allegedly caused harassment and alarm or distress to passers-by.

A third draft of his final report, which has been seen by The Times, said that Sir Ronnie believes that police officers spend much more than 20 per cent of their time on unneccessary bureucracy. The report says that it is vital to free up officers' time, for instance by scrapping the form officers must fill in during a stop and account operation and replacing it with a business card and less detailed recording of non-serious offences.

David Ruffley , the Shadow Minister for Police Reform, said that the draft was not radical enough. "It copies our pledge to abolish the Stop and Account form but it does not follow our pledge to abolish the 40-question Stop and Search form and allow officers to radio in the basic details of a search, which will be digitally recorded."