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Eight separate incidents were admitted by the Ministry, one of which saw the loss of 27,000 records relating to employees of suppliers dealing with the department. The information included names, dates of birth and national insurance numbers, and, in some instances, bank details.

It is unclear what exactly happened to the data, but at some point a sample was shown to a reporter at an unnamed newspaper. All of the data was subsequently returned, but

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no steps were made in the interim to warn those affected.

Another case involved the loss of a laptop from a "secured" Government office containing the names, dates of birth, addresses and offences of 14,000 people who had failed to pay various fines. Other instances involved the loss of details regarding job applicants held on an "inadequately protected" notebook and paper documents relating to offenders.

Earlier this month the Home Office unveiled a consultation document which outlined plans to create a huge national database containing details of every email, phone call and text message sent in the UK in order to help with criminal enquiries. The latest news of data losses by the Government will further erode support for the already unpopular project.

Initial plans were outlined in May, but the recent consultation document has brought the measure one step closer to becoming legislation.