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Government computers have been used to insert insulting references into Wikipedia entries for the Hillsborough disaster, the ECHO can reveal.

A series of sickening revisions to the site began on the 20th anniversary of the 1989 tragedy, when “Blame Liverpool fans” was anonymously added to the Hillsborough section of the encyclopedia site.

Computers on Whitehall’s secure intranet were used again in 2012 to change the phrase “You’ll never walk alone” to “You’ll never walk again” and later “You’ll never w*** alone.”

A further amendment from a government machine includes changes to the phrase “This is Anfield”, which appears above the players’ tunnel at the club's ground, to “This is a S***hole.”

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The words “nothing for the victims of the Heysel stadium disaster” were also added to a description of the Hillsborough memorial at the Reds’ stadium.

On another occasion, the description of a Bill Shankly statue on the Anfield Wikipedia page was revised to change the well-known quote “He made the people happy” to “He made a wonderful lemon drizzle cake.”

The entries were posted from IP addresses used by computers based in government departments including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Her Majesty's Treasury and the Office of the Solicitor General.

Sheila Coleman of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign described the edits as “absolutely disgusting” and said the families of the victims would demand a formal inquiry.

She told the ECHO: “We’re still in the inquests and we’ve sat listening to the most heart-breaking accounts of that day, and then you hear about things like this. It’s absolutely appalling, disgraceful.

“I’m just completely appalled, my God. It’s shocking that these comments came from within the government, no matter how spurious.

“The fact is that these changes came from within the government and that’s very saddening. It warrants an investigation and we will be seeking formal advice from our legal team.”

The Cabinet Office pledged to make “urgent inquiries” into the incident.

A spokeswoman said: “We thank the Liverpool ECHO for bringing this to our attention. This is a matter that we will treat with the utmost seriousness and are making urgent inquiries.

“No one should be in any doubt of the government’s position regarding the Hillsborough disaster and its support for the families of the 96 victims and all those affected by the tragedy.”

Margaret Aspinall of the Hillsborough Family Support Group said she was “saddened” and “frightened” by the news.

She said: “I don’t even know how to react, it’s just so sad.

“I hear something like that and it upsets me a great deal, it makes me incredibly sad. I’m glad somebody has found out about it but I’m frightened to be honest that we haven’t known until now.”

How the changes came to light

The vandalism posted by people with access to government computers on Hillsborough Wikipedia pages was traced through a series of IP addresses.

Computers on the Whitehall estate are linked by the Government Secure Intranet GSI), a service that allows different departments to share sensitive data securely.

The web of computers is tracked online by a handful of IP addresses, the details of which were released by Wallasey MP Angela Eagle following a parliamentary question in 2008, when she was a Treasury minister.

Analysis of Wikipedia’s revision history revealed the same unique ID codes were used to amend the Hillsborough and Anfield pages with a series of sick jokes.

Of the 34 government IP addresses known to the public, at least two were used over a three-year period to insert the phrases “Blame Liverpool fans” and “You’ll never walk again.”

However, an official inquiry is necessary to establish exactly which department and which people are responsible for the changes as the IP addresses cover thousands of Whitehall computers.