Wiltshire Council says it is investigating a breach of confidentially after a bin bag full of birth registrations and internal council emails was dumped in a couple’s bin in Westbury.

The black sack, which also included council letters and lists of workloads for council staff, was found by Westbury Leigh couple Charley Darby and Tim Marchmont inside their wheelie bin after it had been emptied earlier that day.

Yesterday the council admitted it was baffled on two accounts to do with the discovery. A spokesman said the documents should have been put in a sealed bin and then shredded. But even if the paperwork had ended up in an ordinary bin it should have been collected and disposed of by the council’s contractor Sodexho.

“The paperwork clearly came from Trowbridge so how it ended up in Westbury is one of the main issues we are looking at,” he said.

“There is absolutely no way it could have fallen off the refuse lorry that was collecting in that area.”

Miss Darby, 22, who is a senior property manager for Touchstone in Bath, said: “It was about 10pm and we took the dog out for a walk. When we came back my boyfriend was taking the bin back to the garden and noticed a black bin bag inside. We wanted to know who had put the bag in our bin, so we opened it up and found envelopes, internal mail, details of births, names and addresses, and there were also appointment times for council staff. It was mainly from the public protection services department.”

“I was stunned,” she said.“I e-mailed the council detailing what we’d seen within the bag. They e-mailed back the next morning saying they were extremely concerned and that they would come and pick the bag up.

“They said they were investigating it but we haven’t heard anything since.”

The council picked the bag up the next day on January 13 at about 7.30pm.

Yesterday Wiltshire Council saidleader Jane Scott was not prepared to comment on the issue as it was not political, but after critcism from Lib Dem leader Jon Hubbard she changed her mind.

She said: “I have been kept fully briefed on this from the beginning and we are investigating. There has clearly been a breach of our procedures and we are investigating internally and talking to our contractors.

“The data involved was not sensitive as it would have been avail- l Continued: Page 2 WILTSHIRE Council says it is investigating a breach of confidentially after a bin bag full of birth registrations and internal council emails was dumped in a couple’s bin in Westbury.

The black sack, which also included council letters and lists of workloads for council staff, was found by Westbury Leigh couple Charley Darby and Tim Marchmont inside their wheelie bin after it had been emptied earlier that day.

Yesterday the council admitted it was baffled on two accounts to do with the discovery. A spokesman said the documents should have been put in a sealed bin and then shredded. But even if the paperwork had ended up in an ordinary bin it should have been collected and disposed of by the council’s contractor Sodexho.

“The paperwork clearly came from Trowbridge so how it ended up in Westbury is one of the main issues we are looking at,” he said.

“There is absolutely no way it could have fallen off the refuse lorry that was collecting in that area.”

Miss Darby, 22, who is a senior property manager for Touchstone in Bath, said: “It was about 10pm and we took the dog out for a walk. When we came back my boyfriend was taking the bin back to the garden and noticed a black bin bag inside. We wanted to know who had put the bag in our bin, so we opened it up and found envelopes, internal mail, details of births, names and addresses, and there were also appointment times for council staff. It was mainly from the public protection services department.”

“I was stunned,” she said.“I e-mailed the council detailing what we’d seen within the bag. They e-mailed back the next morning saying they were extremely concerned and that they would come and pick the bag up.

“They said they were investigating it but we haven’t heard anything since.”

The council picked the bag up the next day on January 13 at about 7.30pm.

Yesterday Wiltshire Council saidleader Jane Scott was not prepared to comment on the issue as it was not political, but after critcism from Lib Dem leader Jon Hubbard she changed her mind.

She said: “I have been kept fully briefed on this from the beginning and we are investigating. There has clearly been a breach of our procedures and we are investigating internally and talking to our contractors.

“The data involved was not sensitive as it would have been available on websites, but that is not the point. We are taking this very seriously and if we think re-training is needed it will be carried out.”

The council said although birth certificates and records were included this was not considered to be confidential.

Cllr Scott said she had originally been reluctant to comment as she was waiting for the investigation to close.

Cllr Hubbard said: “Every person whose information was disclosed by this horrendous error should have received a letter of apology from the council along with details of the information that has been disclosed.

“I call on the council to call in the relevant authorities and ensure proper procedures are followed from here on in.

“If I were running the council this matter would have been reported to the police. There’s nothing more important than protecting the privacy of our residents.”