TEACHERS who claim their lives were wrecked by false allegations of child abuse last night welcomed strict new guidelines to stop further "miscarriages of justice".

The influential Home Affairs Select Committee said innocent people's lives had been ruined by the over-enthusiastic pursuit of historical abuse allegations in children's homes.

The committee, chaired by Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin, recommended tough rules to stop former care home residents making false claims of abuse to receive huge compensation payments.

MPs also criticised the "trawling" methods used in investigations where police contact former residents to actively seek out further allegations of abuse.

The committee's inquiry focused on tactics used by police forces across the country which had made allegations about children's homes.

It included the £5m investigation into child abuse claims in North-East children's homes carried out by Northumbria Police.

During the inquiry, police sent out 1,800 letters to former residents asking if they had experienced any problems during care.

Almost 200 care workers and teachers had 530 allegations made against them, but only six people were convicted.

As the report was published yesterday, Mr Mullin said: "I am in no doubt that a number of innocent people have been convicted and that many other innocent people, who have not been convicted, have had their lives ruined. Many police trawls are not generating evidence of sufficient quality to satisfy the burden of proof."