New British military helicopters were mothballed instead of used in the Afghan conflict because of a government decision to save money over software for the aircraft, a report said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Defence bought eight helicopters in 1995 but officials decided to try to economise by designing its own software instead of spending extra millions of pounds on software from manufacturer Boeing, the Times said.

The ministry later found it could not design the high-tech software needed, and the helicopters were stored in hangars, according to the newspaper.

MoD officials returned to Boeing in 2004 and the helicopters were eventually converted into transport aircraft at an extra cost of 90 million pounds (103 million euros, 147 million dollars).

They will be sent to Afghanistan next year, according to the newspaper.

"The MoD and RAF said they wanted to fit their own avionics software," an unnamed source was quoted saying.

"Boeing told them that they would have trouble integrating their software, but the MoD believed it could do it better than Boeing.

"The MoD found it couldn't design the software for the Mk3s (helicopters), as Boeing had warned."

The MoD said officials negotiating the 1995 contract failed to ask for access to the software codes and that Boeing refused to hand them over after the mistake was realised.

A recent spike in British troop deaths in Afghanistan has renewed debate in Britain about the the country's role in the conflict, the equipment available to protect its troops and whether any progress is being achieved.

Many British troops have been killed by roadside bombs, with much public criticism directed at a perceived lack of helicopters to avoid troops travelling by land, and adequately armoured road vehicles.

The report comes days after a leaked report for the MoD said its procurement programme was hugely inefficient and harming Britain's ability to fight enemies like Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.