Two members of staff at Telford & Wrekin Council have resigned and another was disciplined after investigations uncovered breaches of confidentiality, it emerged this afternoon.

An audit at the authority has revealed 20 cases of data rules being breached over a nine-month period last year.

They include a former council employee dumping confidential papers into a bin, as revealed by the Shropshire Star.

It was considered so serious it was reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The breaches, which have disclosed details affecting 150 people, include information accidentally sent to the wrong party, personal information accidentally given out verbally and documents containing sensitive information either being left in an insecure place or disposed of inappropriately.

Council officials today said they had taken steps to ensure there were no more incidents.

Councillor Keith Austin, deputy chairman of the Audit Committee, said: “We encourage staff to report incidents when they occur and we feel we do this with more success than many other councils.”

As part of the report, bosses at the Telford Civic Offices said there were 20 data breaches between April and December last year and 30 cases of data lost during a three-year period.

A council report to the authority’s Audit Committee on January 31 says: “The council has changed procedures and provided tr-aining to reduce the possibility of similar data breaches occurring in the future.

“Disciplinary action has been taken in three cases and two members of staff have resigned.”

Last November, a former council employee dumped confidential files in a bin in Telford. The papers were found on the Wrekin Retail park in Wellington and contained job applications and staff sickness forms. The haul of 58 documents, found by a member of the public, included details such as addresses, qualifications and employment records.