After using their services, and in some cases placing their lives in danger, the government is ignoring pleas by British military personnel to secure asylum for scores of Iraqi interpreters.

Nearly 100 interpreters and their families are said to be at risk of being tortured or killed having been seen by Iraqi resistence fighters as "collaborators" working with UK forces. In recent years, hundreds of interpreters and other staff working for the coalition have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Tom Porteous, the director of Human Rights Watch in the UK, said that the government should reverse its policy while British politicians and serving officers have also appealed on behalf of the interpreters.

According to the various news agencies, one interpreter, made a personal appeal to Tony Blair during his visit to Iraq in May. He also included a reference from Major Pauric Newland, which was handed to Tony Blair’s aide Ruth Turner, stating his life would be at risk once British forces left the country.

The Iraqi received a reply sent in June by former foreign policy adviser, Nick Banner, who told the interpreter he was ineligible for asylum and suggested he apply for a visa and to look at a website for help. The Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Iraqi employees will not receive any help in applying for asylum.

A Home Office spokesman said: "They will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis against the criteria of the 1951 Refugee Convention."

"Anyone who is seeking to apply for refugee status must do so from within the United Kingdom. There is no exception to that.”

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: "Britain has benefited from the services of these Iraqis in carrying out our responsibilities in Iraq.

"As Britain reduces its military presence in Iraq, we ought to look to the safety of those who have risked their lives to help us".