Home Office minister Vernon Coaker met with MPs and trade unionists yesterday in the wake of the latest incident, in which anti-fascist campaigner Alec McFadden, the president of the Merseyside TUC, was stabbed in the face after his details were listed on the Redwatch site.

Redwatch carries photographs of people it identifies as "traitors" - those opposed to racism and fascism - and seeks their addresses, telephone numbers and car registration numbers.

The personal details of politicians, trade unionists and journalists responsible for exposing the activities of extreme right-wing groups are listed with the slogan: "Remember places, traitors' faces, they'll all pay for their crimes."

Two years ago, the Guardian revealed that many of those featured on Redwatch had already suffered threats, intimidation and violence. A secret hitlist of targets on a secure email network attached to the site was uncovered and passed to the government.

A message on the website says that, while it is currently "time to be legal", activists must be prepared to revolt, at which point they will "unleash all the furies of hell on the capitalist state and its puppets".

Successive home secretaries have been repeatedly urged to close the site down and the police have drawn criticism from anti-fascist campaigners for not using powers already at their disposal.

Angela Eagle is the MP for Wallasey, Mr McFadden's home constituency, and her photograph appears on the front page of the Redwatch website, alongside that of the Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Peter Lazenby.

Ms Eagle attended yesterday's meeting and told the Home Office minister that the police were failing to do their job under incitement to violence legislation.

"There has been a lack of action by police and now ministers have undertaken to try and sort it out by getting a more coherent police response. The site is registered by two UK and one US citizen and the police know who they are", she said.

Ms Eagle added: "A Liberal Democrat councillor from Liverpool has had death threats and they threatened to burn his house down. This is illegal, yet the police are not acting on it. Police are very good at acting after something has happened. They are not so good at prevention."

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Coaker, who has responsibility for internet crime, would meet with representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers on Monday.

"The meeting will discuss a strategy and we will be taking it forward," the spokeswoman said.

"Mr Coaker thinks that the existing legislative framework is sufficient to deal with the problem. Where violence is being incited, it is a criminal offence. If the website hosting the material in the UK, or is being operated in the UK or by individuals in the UK, then those responsible may be prosecuted."

Until now, there were doubts that the website could be closed down because it is hosted in the US.

But news that Redwatch's sister site in Poland has been shut down following cooperation between police there and in the US has given the government new hope.

UK ministers confirmed earlier this week they were in touch with the US authorities in relation to the UK site.