The UK government has admitted losing the personal details of three million learner drivers in yet another data debacle.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly yesterday told the Commons that a disk with names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses had gone missing from the US offices of a company responsible for running the theory section of UK driving tests.

Kelly's announcement came on the same day that Chancellor Alistair Darling admitted that two computer disks lost by HM Revenue and Customs containing information on 25 million child benefit claimants were still missing.

Making light of the government's latest data mishap, Kelly told MPs that there was "no substantial risk to individuals" as the information did not contain bank or credit card details, dates of birth, driving licence numbers or National Insurance numbers.

The minister apologised for any "uncertainty or concern" caused by the loss of data.
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers claimed that the loss of data dealt another blow to government plans to roll out a national road-pricing scheme.

"How can the public possibly trust [Kelly's] department with information on every journey made by every one of the 33 million vehicles on Britain's roads if it cannot be trusted with the data that it already has?" she said.