The Liberal Democrats have slammed a £250 million scheme for failing to benefit the key workers it was supposed to help.

Official figures have revealed that the Starter Home Initiative created to help nurses and teachers afford new homes has so far only helped one in four of the people it targeted.

The party claimed that if the scheme continues at its present rate it will fail to meet government targets by the deadline of next year.

Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, placed the blame squarely on John Prescott.

"Giving a small number of key workers loans for homes will do nothing to provide more generally affordable housing," he said.

"In fact it will contribute to the inflated housing market leaving the unlucky workers who are not part of the scheme paying more for their homes."

Davey claimed the initiative was inefficient and called for long-term investment in affordable housing.

"The scheme's managers needed £12.3 million just to administer the initiative.

"Many more key workers could have been helped more efficiently by using the cash to kick-start building projects for reasonably priced housing."