Entry codes to Met stations stolen
Entry codes to doors of 73 police stations across London were stolen from a parked vehicle, the Metropolitan Police confirmed last week.
Entry codes to doors of 73 police stations across London were stolen from a parked vehicle, the Metropolitan Police confirmed last week.
The list of codes was lost after a car used by a vehicle maintenance contractor was stolen in West London, on December 28.
All codes on the list were changed within 12 hours and none were for high security a spokesperson for the Met said.
Commander Shaun Sawyer, the senior officer on call at the time, said: There was no breach of security.
The unofficial list of codes was discovered missing after the car was found abandoned in the same area hours later.
UK defence and services firm, VT, is responsible for maintaining the Met forces fleet of cars. The company said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
A Met spokesperson underlined that the list was not an official Met list but was compiled by the driver working for the contractor.
Even with the entry codes it would have been difficult to gain access to buildings, as there are secondary barriers inside, the spokesperson added.
Paul Lester, chief executive of VT Group, said he was informed of the incident on December 29. He said VT is checking its internal processes to as part of the investigation.
The company and the Met are discussing issues as to how to strengthen processes so that it does not happen again.
Shadow security minister Dame Pauline Neville-Jones said the fact that the codes are not changed frequently is a serious matter. What he [Commander Sawyer] meant to say was that we are fortunate that nothing ensued from this security breach, but a security breach there certainly was, she said.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Authority said members were very concerned and had called for a full report into the incident.
No one has been arrested.