The Home Office is offering its own staff the chance to be among the first people in the UK to have an identity card.

Borders and immigration minister Phil Woolas issued a statement today announcing the move, which will also apply to others engaged in work related to the issue of ID cards.

Later this year, residents of Greater Manchester and airside workers at Manchester and London City airports will also be offered the opportunity to purchase ID cards.

But the decision to offer ID cards to civil servants has come under fire from the Tories.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said the proposals "would be funny if it was not so expensive for the taxpayer".

"The government is reduced to selling ID cards to its own staff in a desperate bid to prove that someone, somewhere, thinks that they would benefit from the ID card scheme,” he said.

"This beggars belief."

The Home Office has estimated the 10-year cost of ID cards has risen to nearly £5bn. Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have said they would scrap the scheme if they came to power at the next election.