Dr David Kelly was the principal source for the report claiming the British government 'sexed up' an Iraq weapons dossier, the BBC has admitted.

The BBC's director of news, Richard Sambrook, disclosed this after speaking to the family of Dr Kelly, who was found dead on Friday.

The BBC believed it correctly interpreted and reported what Dr Kelly disclosed, he added.

Sambrook said the BBC had, until now, owed Dr Kelly a duty of confidentiality and was 'profoundly sorry' that his involvement had ended in tragedy.

The BBC statement prompted Dr Kelly's local MP, Tory Robert Jackson, to call for the resignation of the BBC chairman Gavyn Davies.

The statement came shortly after Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would accept responsibility for all the actions of the government, but ruled out recalling Parliament.

Police confirmed on Saturday Dr Kelly, a senior defence ministry adviser, had bled to death from a cut to his wrist.

In an email reportedly sent to a New York Times journalist hours before his death, Dr Kelly had apparently warned of 'many dark actors playing games'.

The government will now hold an independent judicial inquiry, led by Lord Hutton, into the circumstances surrounding his death.