Data losses revealed at London councils

Local authorities are the latest to look sheepish as public sector problems continue

Sensitive information was stolen while council workers visited bars

Thirteen London councils have failed to protect personal information on citizens during the last year, according to a BBC survey.

The guilty respondents to a Freedom of Information request said that data has been either lost, stolen or "inadvertently disclosed."

In two separate incidents four months apart, workers at Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council took information on vulnerable children into bars, where it was stolen.

And in October 2007, 375 student files were stolen from Havering Council.