Huge security blunder as highly sensitive docs from Army’s largest garrison found dumped at council tip

The Royal Military Police are looking into how the restricted cache, which included soldiers’ names and ranks, weapons storage details and guard shift patterns, finished up among a pile of waste 2½ miles away. Defence chiefs are investigating after highly sensitive military docs from the British Army’s largest garrison were found dumped at a council tipCredit: PA

Also outlined in the unredacted paperwork were security breaches and alarm response protocols — effectively a blueprint of the base’s defensive posture and significant details for a would-be terrorist.

A former Army intelligence officer and MPs described the blunder as a “serious security breach” and “embarrassing” for Catterick Garrison — home to 13,000 military personnel in North Yorks.

The files, in a folder marked MoD (Ministry of Defence), were in a recycling bin at Catterick Bridge household waste recycling centre.

A member of the public discovered the documents, which relate to 2018, 2021 and 2023, as he opened its lid to throw in his trash.

They are mostly “daily occurrence logs” from the guardroom at ­Catterick’s Marne Barracks — base for the 5th Regiment, Royal Artillery and 32 Engineer Regiment.

Their finder, who asked not to be identified, said: “I thought it best to hand them over to stop them ­falling into the wrong hands.

“They were literally sat there on top of other rubbish in the bin.

“They were staring straight at me, and I spotted MoD on the front.”