NORTHERN Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has issued an "urgent clarification" on the status of so called "comfort letters" sent to Irish republicans on the run in a controversial Government scheme saying they were not wanted by UK police.

Ms Villiers told MPs yesterday her statement was the "fairest, promptest and most effective way to reduce the risk to future prosecutions and to provide the clarity called for in the Hallett report".

She warned those in receipt of official letters assuring them they are not wanted by UK police that they cannot rely on them to avoid future prosecution.

Controversy erupted in February when the prosecution of John Downey, of County Dongal, for the murder of four soldiers in the IRA's Hyde Park bombing in London in 1982 collapsed because it emerged he had been sent one of the letters in error.

In fact the police were seeking him.

She said: "Lady Justice Hallett emphasised in her report on a number of occasions that the letters, however phrased, were not an amnesty.

"They were not a commitment by the state that individuals would not be prosecuted whatever the strength of the case against them. They were only ever meant as statement of the facts as they were believed to be at the time as to whether an individual was wanted for questioning by the police or not.

"They were not intended to preclude investigation or prosecution on the basis of new evidence emerging after they were sent or on the basis of fresh assessment of the existing evidence.

"But in the light of her report, and in the light of the Downey case, it's clear to me that urgent clarification is needed as to what, if any, comfort can be derived from those letters now."

She added: "They now have fair and clear warning that such comfort as they may have derived from the statements can no longer be taken, there is no continuing basis for any reliance on past statements, the scheme is at an end."