Charity shop bag held prison pass

Mr Brown found the security pass in the briefcase

A briefcase bought at a charity shop in the Borders has been discovered to contain a social work security pass to Edinburgh's Saughton Prison.

The case was purchased at Barnardo's in Selkirk three months ago but the buyers only stumbled on the pass this week.

They also found social work business cards which has prompted a security review by Scottish Borders Council.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said security at the jail had not been compromised by the incident.

Tim and Emma Brown, of Selkirk, reported the discovery to their local council.

As a result of this we will review our procedures for the issuing of business cards David Cressey Scottish Borders Council

Mrs Brown said they had been worried about the items they had found.

She also voiced disappointment at an apparent lack of concern when the issue was first reported to the local authority.

"Things like that shouldn't be left alone, especially with everything you hear in the news about data discs going missing," she said.

"Anyone could use the social work cards and even if it's out of date the prison security pass could still be forged or copied."

Mr Brown added: "It worries you if they are not concerned about something like that, how they deal with personal details - it is frightening."

However, the council's head of housing and social work strategy, David Cressey, said he acknowledged the concerns and promised action.

Contact purposes

He said: "We do take proof of identification very seriously and all staff are issued with photo identification cards which they are expected to use to identify themselves to any member of the public.

"The use of business cards is purely for contact purposes and they are not a form of identification.

"However, as a result of this we will review our procedures for the issuing of business cards."

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said the incident had no impact on security at Saughton.

He added: "The card should have been returned to us at the end of the visit."