Dumped data - copies of driving licences, passports, found on moors

Fly tipping on Huddersfield Road near Denshaw. Copies of personal documents ie passport, driving licence etc found in rubbish.

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HUNDREDS of sensitive documents, including photocopies of passports and driving licences of people from Oldham, were dumped at a lay-by on the A640 Huddersfield Road above Denshaw.

The personal information, which appear to be forms for sales and purchases at a second hand mobile phone shop, was dumped at some point between last Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning at the lay-by.

Amongst the rubbish, which covered the lay-by and carried on down the slope behind it, were photocopies of passports, driving licences, citizencards, council tax bills and someone's bank statement. The dates on the documents range back to 2011.

Along with the documents were office phones, salon stools, storage cupboards and old cardboard boxes to store merchandise.

As part of the process of selling an old mobile phone or other electrical gear many stores require people to fill in a form and provide identification to protect against crime and fraud.

Daniel Moss, whose driving licence was photocopied next to a form for the £145 sale of his old mobile phone, said he sold the phone and completed the form at the premises of a former second hand mobile phone shop on Market Street which is currently signposted as Happy Nails.

It is understood that Happy Nails recently closed and staff at the hair salon above it, Maine Hair and Beauty Salon, said on Saturday, May 6, they could hear someone moving items out of the basement.

Daniel said: "I have sold an old phone about 4 years ago. It was a newsagents on one side of it and a mobile phone shop on the other side of it.

"I remember filling out the forms, and they took a photocopy of my driving licence. I remember scribbling out my driving number so no one would have it.

"It was an old phone and I got about £145 for it. I was shocked first of all when I found out. It is not very good, you would think they would have destroyed them by now but obviously not. I'm not happy about it now."

An Oldham resident, whose Citizenscard was in the documents, had no recollection of filling out the form but was left disgusted that the details had not been disposed of correctly.

She said: "It is disgusting to be honest, obviously personal details are on it. When I was contacted about it I was shocked at first and was unsure but now I have seen the picture I realised it was true, it was right out of the blue.

"It's very serious. It has been years since I had that card. I thought I lost the card or had misplaced it. It is really upsetting.

"It really needs investigating because it is not just my details as well, it is loads of others."

Ralph Peter Montaque, of Oldham, who also had a photocopy of his passport among the rubbish, confirmed that in the past he had sold his old mobile phone at the same shop.

He said: "I sold a couple of phones there. I'm concerned that it has just been dumped, anyone could use that for fraud."

The driver who notified the Chronicle about the fly-tipping, said: "It wasn't there at 6 o'clock last night when I was coming home from work.

"It didn't look like much at first but then I saw it had been dumped across the slope at the back.

"I saw a ring binder and decided to open it and it had all of these documents.

He said: "I was shocked by some of the personal details that had just been left there and that was only one of the ring binders. There were at least three that I saw."

In a further twist, when a Chronicle photographer went to take pictures of the scene on Wednesday morning, he saw officers from Kirklees Council removing the waste, but then another officer arrived and told his colleagues it was an issue for Oldham Council and they left the scene with what they had cleared, leaving the rest behind.

Oldham Council have cleared the waste and said the offenders will face charges relating to breaches of the Data Protection Act.

Helen Lockwood, Executive Director of Economy, Skills and Neighbourhoods at Oldham Council, said: "Our officers have visited the site and have cleared the remainder of the rubbish. We have also collected the rubbish cleared by Kirklees Council.

"We have searched all the waste left behind and have found evidence leading us to who we believe the culprit is.

"Fly-tipping of waste is a crime in itself but these offenders will also be facing charges relating to breaches of the Data Protection Act."

She added: "Thankfully, the vast majority do not fly-tip but for this problem to go away we need the selfish few to stop.

"Remember, it's not the council dumping the waste; it's your neighbour or someone coming from outside leaving a blight in your area or street.

"We need residents to continue to work with us to catch fly-tippers and we will investigate and prosecute if there is evidence."

You can report fly-tipping or the dumping of waste via the online form on oldham.gov.uk/ or by calling 0161 770 2244.