Mr Blix said he welcomed intelligence from governments such as the United States on the hunt for WMD, but said: "Inspectors, for their part, must base their reports only on evidence, which they can, themselves, examine and present publicly. Without evidence, confidence cannot arise."

Mr Blix said weapons inspectors have "not found any such weapons, only a small number of empty chemical munitions, which should have been declared and destroyed".

But he added: "Another matter, and one of great significance, is that many proscribed weapons and items are not accounted for." Iraq must account for the status of anthrax, VX gas and long-range missiles, Mr Blix said.

He said: "One must not jump to the conclusion that they exist. However, that possibility is also not excluded. If they exist, they should be presented for destruction." If they do not exist, credible evidence to that effect should be presented, he said.

On the important issue of Iraqi cooperation, he said access to sites had been free of problems but that it could improve, particularly in allowing unfettered access to interview scientists. Numbers of Iraqi minders had fallen from a ratio of up to five per inspector, to around 1:1.

Mr Blix also told the security council:

· Inspections are bridging the gaps in knowledge on Iraqi arms

· Inspectors have taken 200 chemical samples and 100 biological samples

· Iraq has accepted an offer from South Africa to give advice on how to win confidence in its disarmament programme

· Private interviews with three Iraqi scientists "proved informative"

· Unfettered interviews with Iraqi scientists would be the best way for Iraq to convince inspectors it has no weapons of mass destruction, but none have so far been secured on the weapons inspectors' terms

· 50 litres of mustard gas have been found, a third of which has already been destroyed

· Some 250 inspectors, from 60 countries, are now in Iraq

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Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon launched a savage attack yesterday on critics of the Government's hawkish stance over Iraq, warning Britain would not 'sit idly by until hundreds or thousands are killed'.

In the clearest signal yet that conflict in the Gulf is now imminent, he warned it would be an abdication of responsibility 'on a massive scale' to do nothing about Saddam Hussein's development of weapons of mass destruction.

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'There are those who will never be convinced until that missile with its weapons of mass destruction warhead is fired, or until terrorists are aided in carrying out a WMD attack on one of our cities,' Hoon warned in a message to British service people.

'By then it will be too late. The Government is not prepared to sit idly by until hundreds or thousands are killed before acting, and those who argue otherwise should look long and hard at themselves too.'