Families of those who died at Hillsborough in 1989 have reacted with anger to claims that insulting remarks about the disaster were made from government computers. Family members arriving in Warrington for the 12th day of the new inquest into how their relatives died said they were disgusted, and called for a thorough government investigation.

The Cabinet Office has said it will investigate after a report by the Liverpool Echo said that text on the Wikipedia page on the disaster had been changed from computers within Whitehall. The paper said that in 2009, on the 20th anniversary of the disaster, in which 96 people died, "Blame Liverpool Fans" was added to the page. In 2012, the phrase "You'll never walk alone" was changed to "You'll never walk again" and other insulting variations.

The story emerged during a week in which families made personal statements about their relatives who died, speaking of their love for them and devastation at their loss.

Jackie Gilhooley, who on Wednesday spoke about her son Jon-Paul, at 10 the youngest of the victims, said: "To have people making nasty remarks at a time like this, it is disgusting, and it doesn't help the families at all. But after what we have been through for 25 years, I have to say I am not shocked or surprised."

Sue Roberts, the secretary of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, which represents 74 families, said the disrespect shown was "a new low", and those who made the changes should be ashamed.

"It needs to be investigated, and wouldn't it be nice if the people who did it just owned up?" she added.

Sheila Coleman of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, which represents 21 families and survivors of the lethal crush at Sheffield Wednesday's ground, said she was consulting lawyers .

"There is a need for an investigation into who made these changes, and what government positions did they hold," she said. "We need to know if it was junior staff, and we would question why they are employed by the government, or represents something more sinister. The government needs to win back families' trust over this."

The Echo said it had discovered that entries on the Wikipedia page were posted from IP addresses used by computers based in government departments, including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Treasury and the Office of the Solicitor General.

Other entries related to Liverpool football club were changed. A further amendment included changes to the phrase "This is Anfield", which appears above the players' tunnel at the club's ground, to "This is a shit hole". The words "nothing for the victims of the Heysel stadium disaster" were also added to a description of the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield stadium. On another occasion, the description of a Bill Shankly statue on the Anfield Wikipedia page changed the quote "He made the people happy" to "He made a wonderful lemon drizzle cake".

On Thursday, a spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: "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."

The new inquest is under way in Warrington, Cheshire, into the causes of the disaster, after the findings of the previous 1990-91 inquest were quashed in December 2012 following a long campaign by bereaved families.