DYFED-Powys Police have accepted they have made a mistake after accidentally disclosing information about sex offenders to a member of the public.

The police force have been fined £150,000 after an e-mail containing information that could be used to identify eight sex offenders was sent to a member of the general public in error.

An Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) investigation found that Dyfed-Powys Police did not have the right measures in place to keep personal information secure, and been forced to pay a hefty fine.

Anne Jones, ICO Assistant Commissioner for Wales, said: “While at first glance this might seem like simple human error, it was made possible by the poor procedures the force had in place around protecting people’s personal data.

“This is a troubling story, and one that will do little to reassure the local community that its police force can be trusted to look after sensitive information.”

The email error came after an officer emailed colleagues with details including a list of eight people based in Powys, including their names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. The email also contained information that inferred that the individuals were sex offenders.

But the officer mistakenly sent the email to a member of a local community scheme, after selecting the wrong name in the force’s email address book.

That address book was only meant to be used for internal emails, but an ICO investigation found that it had grown to contain frequently used email addresses for people outside of the force. The recipient of the email was the first name in the alphabetical list, and had received five emails meant for other people in just four days in April 2015.

Anne Jones said: “This was an accident waiting to happen. The force failed to take advantage of earlier opportunities to address the problem, and now faces the consequences of getting it wrong.”

Deputy Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Liane James, responded: "We accept that mistakes were made and have acted to make the necessary changes to processes and systems.

“We work hard to ensure the safety of the data available to us and will continue to take the learning from this, now and in the future."

Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn added: "It's vitally important that peoples' personal data is kept safe.

"The public can be sure that I'll be holding Dyfed-Powys Police to account to guard against any possible future breaches of regulations.

"I'm content that, in light of this regrettable incident, the force has made important changes and learnt significant lessons."