'No anti-terror documents' on lost police memory stick

Anti-terrorism material was not on a lost police memory stick found by a member of the public, senior officers said today.

The USB storage device was spotted outside a police station in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, by a 36-year-old businessman.

It was said to contain sensitive anti-terror material in more than 2,000 pages of confidential information, including strategies on combating terror attacks, according to newspaper reports at the weekend.

Names of officers, their ranks and divisions were also uncovered by the businessman when he fitted the stick into his laptop, according to the Daily Star on Sunday.

But today Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the device has been reviewed and the documents on it are used to deliver officer safety training.

All are public documents, except one which is due to be released into the public domain later this year, according to GMP, and there are no confidential documents or articles relating to counter-terrorism.

Superintendent Mike Freeman, of GMP's professional standards branch, said: "I think it is fair to suggest that in most cases, anyone who found an item belonging to GMP outside a police station might do the right thing and hand it in. The person in this instance clearly had other motivations.

"I must stress that there is absolutely no confidential material on the device or anything relating to counter-terrorism.

"That said, we will be reminding staff of the importance of looking after GMP property and declaring losses to us when they occur."