Credit card numbers found in store's torn rubbish bags

The Middlesbrough town centre store is not being named. But management hasbeen informed of the discovery by shocked enforcement officers for Middlesbrough Council.

And it was revealed last night a letter is to be sent to the shop, giving advice on how to improve security.

All 17 credit card numbers were printed out in full, 16-digit number format.

Dr Anthony Luke, who heads the council's enforcement team, said: "Inquiries are continuing to see if an offence has been committed.''

It is the second such incident in Middlesbrough in recent weeks of customer details being found in a bin bag put out for refuse collection in a town centre alleyway, although the earlier discovery was not on the same scale.

Dr Luke said: "Once again, we have financial information, potentially useful to criminals, turning up in a back alley, having been discarded. I'm glad that it ended up in our hands.

"This incident illustrates the need to be aware of identity theft and to ensure that all personal information is shredded before it gets thrown out."

The bag-slashers can receive up to £20 a time for an unshredded bank account. Criminals can carry out scams using the stolen data.

The town centre, with its shops and maze of terraced streets and back lanes, is prey to gangs of bag-slashers who know all the various refuse collection days across the town, with the bins of between 10,000 and 12,000 homes being emptied daily.

Undercover council officials recently made a breakthrough in the hunt for the bag scavengers, identifying and challenging a man at the centre of one such gang.

The council has distributed hundreds of low-cost shredders to residents living in areas of the town plagued by the scavenger gangs in a bid to stop personal financial data falling into the wrong hands.

The initiative has led to the council being shortlisted for this year's International Green Apple Environment Awards.