A landmark legal move introduced to prevent suspects spending months languishing on police bail, has backfired with people now spending even longer in limbo, official data has revealed.

Two years ago the Government changed the rules meaning police forces could only keep a suspect on pre-charge bail for a maximum of 28 days, unless there were exceptional circumstances.

It followed controversy over a number of high profile cases in which people were forced to live under a cloud of suspicion for long periods - sometimes years - before eventually being exonerated.

Instead of being bailed, suspects are now usually 'released under investigation', a status that is intended to carry less stigma and ought to help speed up the legal process.

More than 80 per cent of criminal suspects are now released under investigation rather than on police bail.

But data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, has revealed that in many police forces, suspects are spending even longer in limbo waiting for their case to be resolved.