PEOPLE’S personal data was breached 13 times in four years by councils in Oxfordshire, with one employee sacked.

In one case at Oxford City Council an employee was dismissed after it was discovered they had accessed a relative’s benefit claims.

In another instance a letter with personal data was sent to the wrong address, while on two occasions staff at Oxfordshire County Council accessed files or personal data without permission.

Freedom of Information requests submitted by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch showed the county council had six breaches between April 2011 and April 2014, and the city council had five in the same period.

South Oxfordshire District Council and Cherwell District Council each had one breach in that period but no details of the incidents were provided.

City council Liberal Democrat leader Jean Fooks said : “It should not happen – we have to try and take steps to make sure that it does not.

“Sometimes of course these things happen by mistake but it is good that it has been brought to people’s attention.

“We need to be able to do all we can to make sure things are not leaked.”

Only one employee was sacked for the breaches but four staff at the county council and one at the city council were given written warnings. Three city council employees and one county council employee were spoken to informally.

City council spokesman Tom Jennings said: “ We work hard to prevent data protection breaches and in the rare cases when they happen we take appropriate action.”

South Oxfordshire District Council spokesman Gavin Walton said: “ The information did not disclose any personal details and we have subsequently put measures in place.”

Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council did not comment.