A disk containing personal data on 2,000 employees of the British Council was lost last month, the organisation admitted today.

The disk was lost while in transit between its HR department and payroll supplier, the British Council said. The courier, TNT, is still looking for the disk, according to reports.

The British Council says that the contents of the disk, which include National Insurance and bank account numbers, are encrypted.

Also this week, two NHS trusts have signed agreements to reform their data handling procedures after they were found to be in breach of the Data Protection Act by the information commissioner.

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust in Wales lost personal details of 5,000 patients when a laptop was stolen, while Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation lost a memory stick containing unencrypted patient and staff data.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is seeking similar agreements from government organisations, including the Home Office, and private organisations, including Orange Personal Communications Service, for data protection breaches.