More than 900 criminal cases were dropped last year due to a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence, it has been reported.

This marks a 70 per cent increase in the number of collapsed cases over the course of two years.

Figures reveal that 916 people had charges dropped last year due to a failure to disclose evidence - up from 537 in 2014-15 and 732 the following year.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the number of dropped cases represented just 0.15 per cent of the total number of prosecutions, but said there were still "systemic disclosure issues".

The investigation comes after the high-profile collapse of several rape trials, with Scotland Yard announcing a review of its sex crime investigations after two rape cases were dropped in the space of a week in December.

The trial of Liam Allan, 22, was halted at Croydon Crown Court, while days later another prosecution collapsed against Isaac Itiary at Inner London Crown Court.

The figures were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the BBC. Angela Rafferty QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, told the Corporation that barristers face "a daily struggle in respect of disclosure, delays and all the other disastrous consequences of a system that is openly described by MPs as at breaking point".