SURREY Police ranks as the second worst offender in a ‘top 10’ of data breaches by forces across the country, compiled by civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch.

The ‘Safe in Police Hands?’ report used Freedom of Information legislation to ask each force to provide the number of times police officers and staff had been convicted, dismissed or disciplined internally for a data breach between June 2011 and December 2015.

West Midlands Police topped the list with 488 data breaches and Surrey came second with 202.

Sussex Police had 63 data breaches while Hampshire refused to respond on grounds of the cost and time it would incur.

It was revealed at least 2,315 data breaches occurred nationally over the four-year period, including 869 instances of inappropriate or unauthorised access to information and 877 instances of inappropriate disclosure to third parties.

No disciplinary action was taken concerning 1,238 breaches. The report revealed that 297 resulted in either a resignation or a dismissal – 70 resulted in a criminal conviction or a caution and 258 resulted in either a written or verbal warning.

In Surrey, a police officer was dismissed for 17 instances of accessing police systems without a policing purpose, another was dismissed for sharing a data breach, and a staff member was dismissed for accessing the system without a policing purpose.

No management action was taken concerning 16 data breaches.

In Sussex, a staff member was dismissed following six data breaches, and an officer was dismissed after “inappropriately accessing the police computer systems in order to respond to a query from a friend involved in the matter”.

Big Brother Watch has called for custodial sentences to be introduced for serious data breaches and for the mandatory reporting of a breach that concerns a member of the public, among five policy recommendations.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation framework is due to come into force in 2018 and the group has urged that despite the vote to Leave in last month’s EU referendum, it should be adopted in the UK, too.

• Group chief executive Renate Samson said: “We trust the police to keep us safe, in the 21st century that is as much about keeping our data secure as protecting us on the streets.

“The revelation that the police are still committing 10 data breaches a week shows work still needs to be done before we can be sure our personal information is safe in their hands.

“The Government is about to give law enforcement access to the details of all the websites each and every one of us look at.

“In light of our findings questions must be asked about whether more access will make for better policing, or only increase the opportunities for misuse.”

A force spokesman said: “Surrey Police takes data protection extremely seriously and the force has robust procedures in place to investigate any breaches and deal with members of staff and officers who do not meet the high expectations placed upon them.

“The vast majority of Surrey officers and staff behave in an honest and professional manner, and are encouraged to raise any concerns so that any problems can be identified and addressed at an early stage.

“We expect high standards from all officers and staff and have a professional standards department dedicated to investigating complaints, identifying learning and sharing good practice.”