The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)'s system is at risk of "overloading", a senior official from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has said.

The increasing demand for checks in a number of sectors where they would not normally be needed is responsible, Tom Hadley, director of external affairs at REC, claims.

Hadley said that administrative staff and local authority staff who had no direct contact with children or vulnerable adults had experienced checking when it was not needed.

"There is a very real risk that the CRB system will be overloaded and won't be able to keep pace with the demand," he added.

Hadley spoke as the CRB released its annual report last week, which revealed that the Home Office agency handled 2.9m disclosures in 2005/06. Hadley suggested that more help in making employers aware when checks were appropriate was key, adding: "With such a premium legitimately being placed on safe recruitment, agencies are sometimes caught in the middle and it is essential that we have more clarity as to when a CRB check can legitimately be requested."

Hadley said that some requests from employers for CRB checks could have contravened other legislation, such as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and certain data protection regulations.

The CRB announced earlier this year that it was no longer endorsing the practice of 'portability' - the re-use of a disclosure, obtained for a position in one organisation and later used for another position in another organisation.

This was due to the risk of abuse of the system, it said.