The government has defended an increase in the use of animals in scientific testing.

Last year, 2.73 million scientific procedures were performed using animals, an increase of 4.2 per cent since 2001.

Forum Response: British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection

Wendy Higgins, campaigns director for the BUAV, said: "This shocking rise, and the alarming increase in the use of genetically modified animals, is a shameful reflection of this government's utter failure to tackle the controversial issue of animal experiments.

"Nearly three million animals still suffer painful and lethal experiments in UK labs, there is a huge public debate about whether vivisection is ethically or scientifically justified, the UK public are legally denied access to detailed information about what goes on and the government has no agenda for change whatsoever. The government is stuck in a policy vacuum on vivisection, meanwhile the lab animal death toll continues to go up and up.

"The statistics published each year by the Home Office do not paint an honest picture and are a cynical attempt to cheat a concerned public out of the truth.

"The BUAV has sent a challenge to the Home Office to publish the true figures.

"Current annual government statistics do not include the missing millions of animals bred for vivisection but killed as 'surplus to requirements' or as 'non-conforming products'; those killed purely for blood, tissue or organ products as well as in military experiments or animals enduring long term experiments that straddle more than one year.

"If the hidden suffering of these animals was included in the statistics, the figure would increase by millions and the British public would be shocked to see the true number of animals suffering for the UK vivisection industry."

Forum Response: National Anti-Vivisection Society

Jan Creamer, chief executive of the NAVS, said: "I'm appalled by these figures. The rise in the use of genetically modified animals for experiments confirms that after a decade of hype, most GM animals are simply created to be killed.

"As a civilised society, we should be working towards ending these cruel experiments, not increasing them.

"The government has casually dismissed the increase in the number of experiments, yet these new figures mean that over 300 extra animals are used in laboratories each day. More animals than ever are suffering for science when there are proven alternatives to animal experiments."