A European Athletics taskforce, established to consider the credibility of records following the sport’s doping scandal, put forward its recommendations in May.

The changes, which could have seen all pre-2005 records re-written, was expected to be discussed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at its biennial Congress, due to start here tomorrow.

But such has been the outcry among several former athletes, including Radcliffe, Britain's world marathon record holder who called the proposals "cowardly", that more consultation is taking place.

Others who criticised the idea were Britain's Jonathan Edwards, the world record holder in the triple jump.

European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen has admitted that more work should have been done before the recommendations were published.

"They are right," Hansen told insidethegames following a meeting of European Athletics here today. 

"It's my responsibility. 

"We did too little consultation beforehand. 

"We have to listen to criticism from people like Jonathan and Paula."

Under the original proposals, a world record would only be recognised if it met strict criteria, including the doping control sample taken after the record being stored and available for re-testing for 10 years. 

The IAAF has only stored blood and urine samples since 2005.

Hansen is now considering proposing that only records set before 1991, when out of competition testing was adopted as normal practice around the world, be scrapped. 

"Maybe we have to put in some new criteria," he told insidethegames. 

"For example, not starting in 2005 but 1991, when we started out-of-competition testing. 

"That will be one of my proposals to the new recommendations."

If such a proposal were adopted, it would not affect many of the current men's world records, including Edwards' mark of 18.29 metres for the triple jump set in 1995.

The one mark that would be in danger would be the world record of American Randy Barnes in the shot put.

His record of 23.12 metres dates back to May 1990, just two-and-a-half months before he tested positive for banned anabolic steroids and was suspended. 

Hansen's new criteria would also leave alone Radcliffe's world record in the marathon of 2 hours 15min 25sec, set in 2003. 

It would though still remove some of the most controversial women's world records. 

They are led the 100 and 200 metres marks of 10.49 and 21.34sec set by American Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988.

Also affected would be the 400m world record of 47.60sec set by East Germany's Marita Koch in 1985 and the performance of Jarmila Kratochvílová, the Czechoslovakian runner whose 800m performance of 1min 53.28sec has stood since 1983.

But the proposal could still cause anger as it would lead to Bulgaria's Stefka Kostadinova losing her world record in the high jump of 2.09 metres as it was set in 1987.

Kostadinova, now President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, had claimed the original proposal was "frivolous, incorrect, even mocking our work to delete everything that has happened so far in history".

However, Hansen is determined to introduce some kind of proposal.

"We have recommended this to the IAAF and we are putting together a group involving the other Confederations to see how we can move on," he told insidethegames. 

"We are going forward with this and I hope, together with IAAF, we can bring something to the Council meeting in Monaco in November."