David Blunkett has been pressing European counterparts to push ahead with an EU-wide DNA database.

The home secretary was hosting an informal two-day meeting of interior ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain on Monday.

The talks in Sheffield and Derbyshire were expected to include plans for the pooling of DNA and fingerprint records in a bid to clamp down on terrorism and other crimes across EU borders.

Blunkett has been lobbying hard for the measure since the Madrid bombings in March and believes that the move would help intelligence services pick up suspects earlier.

By winning the backing of the "big five" in the EU he hopes to be able to secure support among the other 20 member states for a deal.

But the initiative will run into civil liberties objections over who would have access to the database and what they would be able to do with it.

The financing of terrorism is also set to be discussed by ministers including Dominique De Villepin from France, Otto Schily from Germany, Guiseppe Pisanu from Italy and Jose Antonio Alonso from Spain.

In a boost for his hometown Blunkett is holding the talks in his native Sheffield, where he also has his parliamentary constituency.

Ahead of the summit he called for more alliances to be formed in the civil defence field.

"Cooperation between European member states is a powerful tool in the fight against terrorism and organised crime," he said.