ROSS PARRY SYNDICATION: A dad who discovered a memory stick in a second hand car was horrified to find it contained confidential details of 5,000 children - including his daughter.

The memory stick was found by a father as he cleaned his second-hand car, which he bought from a taxi driver last month.

The loss had been reported to Leeds City Council, West Yorks., but they were not aware that it contained sensitive information.

In fact, it contained the names, addresses, dates of birth, ethnicity, and phone numbers of an estimated 5,000 children. It also stored information about child protection and whether parents claimed state benefits.

Despite strict council rules, none of the confidential details had been encrypted or protected by passwords.

When the finder, who wishes to remain anonymous, plugged the device into his home computer, he was outraged to discover the huge confidential list, which also included his own child.

The device has since been handed in to West Yorkshire Police, who returned it to the council.