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By Will Sturgeon, 20 March 2003 16:53

NEWS Key websites that are meant for sharing information about the ongoing military action in Iraq and the potential for terrorist retaliation are failing to meet the demand put upon them by anxious web surfers. Websites such as www.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorismwere already starting to show the strain yesterday before the first offensive by UK and US troops in the Gulf. The site was taking up to a minute to access and availability fell to around 50 per cent. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office site was also struggling, taking up to a minute and a half to access, as measured by web monitoring firm Keynote. Such poor performance at such a critical time shows contingency planning for times of crisis has woefully underestimated the demands which would be put upon such sites. The FCO website is an important point of contact for UK residents abroad, living in regions affected by the current situation in Iraq. Tuesday's Commons debate, which effectively determined whether the UK would back Bush and Blair's call for military action, also put strain on government servers. During the busy lunchtime period on Tuesday download times for the Number 10 website increased five-fold from an average of around 3.85 seconds to 15.05 seconds, with availability dropping from the usual 100 per cent to around 80 per cent. Andy Didcott, UK country manager at Keynote Systems, said: "It was clear from the outset that people would be using the internet as one of their primary information resources throughout any possible conflict and unfortunately it seems that government website managers have failed to make adequate preparation for the well publicised surge in demand. "It particularly concerns me that UK citizens abroad appeared to have been overlooked at a time when the need for home country advice is paramount." News services, accustomed to peaks of massive demand around major events, faired far better, though some still laboured at times. While the performance of BBC News dropped negligibly from an average download speed of 0.47 seconds to 1.88 seconds between 13:00(GMT) and 14:00(GMT), ITV News, usually accessibly within around five seconds, kept users waiting for almost 16 seconds before they could access the site.