Theresa May accused of covering up critical border report that reveals illegal immigrants were not fingerprinted

Home secretary accused of hiding 'her own failings' after using legal powers to redact sections of report by chief inspector of borders

Home Secretary Theresa May, pictured, has come under fire for the way her department handled an investigation into a cheating scam at one London school (PA)

Theresa May, the home secretary, has been accused of a cover-up after using legal powers to redact key parts of a report into UK border controls.

Fifteen sections of the report into controls between France and the UK have been censored - including part of a passage revealing staff and managers fear resources in Calais are stretched - for national security reasons.

But politicians and campaigners have accused May of hiding "her own failings" exposed in the report by chief inspector of borders and immigration, John Vine.

In unredacted sections of the report, Vine warns that thousands of illegal immigrants attempting to sneak into the UK through France have not been fingerprinted by border officials for nearly four years.

The report also says that government agency Border Force has been fining those guilty of bringing in illegal immigrants at below maximum levels.

In a redacted section, Vine says that border staff remain concerned over the effect of the so-called Lille loophole, which effectively exempts some passengers who travel to Britain via Lille, in France, on Eurostar trains boarded in Brussels, Belgium, from UK Border Force immigration checks.

Chris Bryant, shadow immigration minister, said: "Yet again the Government refuses to be straight with the British people about immigration and our borders.

"This cover-up and the failure at our borders provide yet more dents in this Government's much-tarnished credibility.

"What possible reason can there be for redacting elements of a report by a highly-respected independent inspector?

"If Theresa May thinks Vine's report would imperil national security or provide ammunition for illegal migrants, she should share the full report with the Home Affairs Select Committee and ourselves and explain why the full report cannot be published without masses of redactions.

"This is a cover-up to hide her own failings."

Keith Vaz, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "I am concerned that the Home Secretary has decided to redact part of the findings related to the Lille loophole, despite John Vine finding that some were still able to reach Britain using this method.

"The committee has been assured in the past that the loophole would be closed. The withholding of information prevents us from properly holding the Border Force to account."

A Home Office spokesman said: "In accordance with the UK Borders Act 2007 the home secretary, in consultation with the independent chief inspector, is required to redact any material which, if published, would be prejudicial to the interests of national security.

"These take the form of visible redactions in the report laid before Parliament."

In the year from September 2011 to August 2012, more than 8,000 illegal immigrants were caught and stopped from entering the UK in vehicles and other containers at juxtaposed controls at Calais, neighbouring Coquelles and Dunkirk.

In January 2010, border officials stopped fingerprinting and photographing illegal immigrants found at Calais due to problems with the availability of cells to hold them in. This was also later stopped at Coquelles.

Fingerprinting and photographing immigrants caught hiding in the backs of lorries and other vehicles could be relevant to their asylum claims if then they made it to the UK in subsequent attempts, Vine said.

The chief inspector said there was "considerable room for improvement in complying with guidance and procedures"