BOTCHED translations are confusing refugee families trying to use public services, a linguist claims.

Research by Liban Ahmad, of Moss Side, reveals leaflets translated into Somali by public sector organisations like the council and Manchester Royal Infirmary are rife with errors.

Families began arriving in Manchester from Somalia, an east African nation which has been ravaged by a series of wars, in the early nineties.

The community now numbers around 10,000 people centred in south Manchester, and many recent arrivals may struggle to read English.

One leaflet on housing contains 54 mistranslations and 97 spelling mistakes.

One line, when translated from the Somali, reads: `the venues where we don't offer housing advice are accessible to everyone'.

In one health service document on post-natal advice a key line translates as `is it difficult for him that you understand English', when it is supposed to say `do you have difficulty speaking or understanding English?'.

A document produced by the Manchester Partnership on domestic violence contains the line `you are not compelled to insist on domestic abuse'.

Meanwhile, another council document produced to give advice on carers and benefits says `do you have (keep guard on) a disabled person?' instead of `do you help or look after someone who is disabled or frail'.

The Somali language became the official language of Somalia in 1972. It is still the official language of most of the country after the collapse of central government in the bloody civil war and is spoken by up to 16m people worldwide.

Mr Ahmad worked as a journalist in the Somali capital Mogadishu before coming to Britain eight years ago.

He has been studying the quality of Somali translation in public sector information for over two years, after winning a grant from the Milennium Commission and a Manchester Metropolitan University entrepeneurship scheme.

Mr Ahmad, 38, said: "These mistakes are so common because people haven't got the training to translate. Also, because of the collapse of the state in Somalia, there are no institutions that promote the language and culture, and thirdly agencies are not making sure translators are properly assessed.

"Mistakes like this could confuse vulnerable people who agencies are trying to reach."

Manchester council's deputy leader Jim Battle said: "We have asked an experienced Somali interpreter to examine the documents in question.

"We are now confident that the text wasn't misleading, but we accept that we may have fallen behind our high standards of accuracy and the documents in question have now been withdrawn."

A spokeswoman for MRI said: "Our Translation and Interpretation Service have confirmed that there is a ‘typo’ on this leaflet and it should read fahamto and not sahamto as stated.  The translated text in question is there to provide the reader with a contact telephone number so that they can access our Translation and Interpretation Service which is made clear by the telephone number contained within this section."