Yesterday an interactive map offering detailed crime statistics on every street in England and Wales was launched. It proved so popular yesterday that the site crashed.

The website aims to offer members of the public unprecedented access to information about crimes taking place in their neighbourhood.

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Users should be able to access figures on levels of burglary, robbery, violence, vehicle crime and antisocial behaviour.

They can also compare one area against another and compare figures against the same period the previous year to see if crime is getting better or worse.

The website also offers messages from senior officers and links to local policing priorities and information about forthcoming crimefighting events.

A batch of 20p coins accidentally issued with no date on them could be worth £50 each, say coin collectors.

Tens of thousands of the coins have been produced in error by the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, near Cardiff.

They are said to be the first undated British coins to enter circulation for more than 300 years.

The Royal Mint said the issue had been resolved but wanted to reassure the public that the faulty 20p coins were still legal tender.

But with experts saying the coins could be worth up to £50 each, anyone finding an undated 20p may be reluctant to put it towards a loaf of bread.

The date on the new 20p was moved from the 'tails' to the 'heads' side when the country's coins were redesigned last year.

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Sir Ian Blair vowed yesterday to stay on as Britain's top police officer, despite sustained calls for his resignation, after his force was found guilty of "catastrophic" failings that led to the shooting dead of Jean Charles de Menezes.

An Old Bailey jury found the Metropolitan police guilty of breaking health and safety law in July 2005 when De Menezes was killed after being mistaken for a suicide bomber. Fining the force £175,000 and ordering it to pay £385,000 in costs, judge Mr Justice Henriques called on the force to learn lessons.