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Peter Gill told the BBC that UK courts would not accept forensic tests whose details are kept secret due to commercial confidentiality issues.

He said this would prevent proper scrutiny of forensic techniques.

Professor Gill also warned the National DNA Database needed upgrades urgently.

And that without them, the UK resource would fall behind comparable systems used in other countries.

Late last year, the government said the Forensic Science Service would be wound up, adding that as many of its operations as possible were to be transferred or sold off.

The Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) agreed to set up a working group to ensure a "smooth transition" as the Forensic Science Service (FSS) was wound down.

Test oversight

Now based at the University of Oslo, Norway, Peter Gill helped develop the DNA fingerprinting technique used widely by crime scene investigators - along with Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester.

"Courts will not accept secret tests that have not been subject to rigorous peer review and challenge,"...