NEARLY 100 cases of personal data breaches have occurred at Worcestershire County Council in just three years - sparking serious concern from civil liberties campaigners.

An investigation has revealed how at least 20 workers have been disciplined since 2011 after people's personal details were exposed to third parties.

Findings under a Freedom of Information Act request have revealed that between 2011 and April 2014 there were 97 breaches of data protection laws.

32 leaks were put down to a "lack of due care and attention" from staff, but other reasons cited included theft, items going missing, details being disclosed to others in error, or the information not being disclosed of securely.

Also, 20 workers were disciplined but not one had to resign or were sent to court for breaking data protection laws

The findings have been criticised by campaign group Big Brother Watch, as the county council's record puts it just outside the 10 worst performing authorities in the entire country.

While the council did not go into details about each case, examples of data breaches around the country include workers using IT systems to access confidential data on family members, adult social care assessments being emailed to the wrong people, laptop thefts, adoption letters send to incorrect addresses, job CVs being circulated in error, school teacher disciplinary actions being leaked and even a children's social worker sharing details of one youngster with another family she was working with.

When comparing Worcestershire with some other 'shire' councils there were just six breaches in Oxfordshire, six in Derbyshire, nine in Northamptonshire, five in Kent and 27 in Warwickshire, while Staffordshire had none at all.

Emma Carr, a director at Big Brother Watch, said: "Despite councils being trusted with increasing amounts of our personal data, they are simply not able to say it is safe with them.

"A number of examples show shockingly lax attitudes to protecting confidential information.

"For so many children and young people to have had their personal information compromised is deeply disturbing.

"With only a tiny fraction of staff being disciplined or dismissed, this raises the question of how seriously local councils take protecting the privacy of the public."

Councillor Lucy Hodgson, the cabinet member for localism and communities, said: "We take the security of our information very seriously and promote a working environment where staff report 'near miss', 'suspected' and 'actual' security incidents.

"This helps us protect people's personal data and meet our responsibilities under the Data Protection Act - and ensures any potential areas of weakness in process, procedure or training can be identified and addressed at an early stage and resolved.

"All staff are subject to mandatory training on their responsibilities under the act and the number of incidents recorded indicates the raised awareness of staff of the importance of addressing such issues when they arise."

Elsewhere around the country, one council worker in Cheshire used CCTV equipment to watch a friend's wedding, while in Lewisham a social worker left bundles of paperwork on 10 vulnerable children on a train, including details on sex offenders and specific protection orders.

Big Brother Watch said from 2011 to April 2014 there were 4,326 data breaches in local councils leading to 50 dismissals, 39 resignations and just one prosecution - in Southampton, where one worker downloaded "highly sensitive" details to a private email account.