Businessman sent another driver’s papers

A businessman was sent someone else’s confidential documents by a court after appealing against parking tickets.

John Ellis, boss of specialist cleaning contractor Manadon Hygiene in Plymouth, received a pile of papers belonging to a man in Enfield, London.

The bundle includes bank statements containing account numbers, pay slips, tax and child credit details, a form applying for “fee remission” and containing financial details, and a letter revealing the applicant’s medical history.

The documents were sent from a county court in Northamptonshire which deals with parking ticket appeals.

It should have been sending Mr Ellis his own documents back after he sent the wrong ones when he was erroneously advised by court staff.

Mr Ellis said he phoned the court and was told they did not know where his papers were.

“I feel they are taking the mick,” he said. “It’s not good.”

Mr Ellis is already furious after spending weeks trying to sort out the parking ticket issue.

Three tickets were issued to his works vehicle earlier this year. However, Mr Ellis was off work at the time with a knee injury. The vehicle was being used by an employee.

Mr Ellis did not find out about the tickets until March.

A spokesman for Her Majesty’s Court Service said: “HMCS takes the security of personal data very seriously.

“We are investigating the details of how this happened.”