Porton Down Private Files Found Dumped In A Bin In London

Porton Down has been developing countermeasures to chemical weapons since the 1950s (Picture: Crown Copyright).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is investigating after documents relating to the Porton Down military research facility were reportedly found in a London bin.

A member of the public alerted The Daily Star to the alleged dumping of the records, and the newspaper said thousands of pages were found in a paper recycling bin in a north London car park.

The documents are understood to be HR forms of former employees, dating back from the early 1980s to the end of 2017.

Scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down were involved in conducting tests after Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to Novichok in Salisbury last year.

Chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon says that any security breach at the laboratory is "of great concern":

"We understand a lot of it details the guarding and security around Porton Down, and of course that is a concern."

Watch: Hamish de Bretton-Gordon says "it does all seem a little bit strange".

An MOD spokesman said: 

"We can confirm that an investigation has been launched into the alleged incident.

"We take the protection of personal data very seriously and we have a range of procedures in place to do so, including complying with the Data Protection Act.

"We also expect third parties who legitimately hold our data to apply similar strict protections."