Walsall Council postal vote forms found in skip
Walsall Council has been told it has breached the Data Protection Act after residents' personal details were found dumped in a skip.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said that hundreds of postal vote statements were found, including dates of birth, addresses and signatures.
The ICO said the statements were disposed of in March by an external contractor on the council's behalf.
The council said a thorough inquiry started once the situation was known.
Simon Entwhisle, from the ICO, said the documents had been dumped outside the warehouse of a firm that the council had contracted to sort the postal votes.
Councillor Mike Bird, leader of Walsall Council, said "urgent steps" were put into place to prevent any further compromises of security and to also retrieve the data that had been put at risk.
He said: "... Although there were issues surrounding the Data Protection provisions it is important to understand that the Data Protection Act applies to contractors as well as an organisation that engages them."
Residents affected by the breach were written to and offered help and advice, he added.