Parliament's spending watchdog has called for more to be done to ensure defendants turn up to court.

In a report released on Thursday the National Audit Office claimed that at least £2 million per year could be saved in the criminal justice system by cutting the number of bail conditions that are broken.

An NAO investigation found that 15 per cent of defendants missed at least one court hearing in 2002, of which less than half were brought back to face justice within three months, while an unknown number never appear.

As well as costing the courts taxpayers' money, the failure to show up causes "distress and inconvenience to victims and witnesses, delays justice and undermines public confidence" according to the report.

It acknowledged that steps are being taken to return defendants to court more promptly following a failure to attend.

But the NAO recommended that "the criminal justice agencies now need to focus more attention on making sure that defendants attend hearings in the first place".

Police forces must concentrate more on catching offenders in their area who area being prosecuted elsewhere, while more custody places should be made available for defendants who do not pose a risk to the public but are deemed to have a high chance of failing to return to court.

Auditor general Sir John Bourn added that courts need better information on defendants in order to hold them to account.

"If justice is to be seen to be done and the public is to have increased confidence in the criminal justice system, the criminal justice agencies must take swift action when defendants do not attend hearings and trials," he said.

"The current initiatives to bring defendants who miss hearings back to court promptly and to improve the management of the trial process are welcome but there is still much ground to be made up.

"Amongst other measures, the courts need for example better information on whether defendants have firm and permanent addresses where they can, if necessary be tracked down."