AN UNEMPLOYED man has said he is "outraged" with the Jobcentre after his personal information, including bank details, ended up in the hands of another benefit claimant.

Neil Garrity, 46, from Leigham, was contacted by Lisa Moody, from Stonehouse, after his completed Jobseekers Allowance form was handed to her by a member of staff at the Exeter Street Jobcentre on Friday.

Miss Moody had visited the centre to pick up a new form to fill out but on returning home found she had been given Mr Garrity's completed application.

She said: "I couldn't believe it – I think it's absolutely disgusting that this has happened.

"The form had all Mr Garrity's personal information on it and had it ended up in the hands of someone else then it could have been serious – I don't understand how this has happened."

Mr Garrity did not know of the Jobcentre's mistake until Miss Moody contacted him via text to let him know.

The form was dated January 12 and Mr Garrity had been left concerned as to why his allowance had not been paid in.

He said: "I think the situation is awful – it's outrageous and could be a breach of the Data Protection Act.

"I've been wondering where my money is for a while but when I contacted them to ask about it they said they had no recollection of the form being handed in – now we know why!

"I'm homeless because I've split from my partner recently and am sofa surfing. I've not eaten for three days either – the money should have come through two weeks ago.

"If this is happening to me who else is it happening to?"

This is not the first time confidential information has been carelessly mislaid by staff at Jobcentre's in the city.

At the beginning of January The Herald reported on 42-year-old Phil Grubb who was also handed somebody else's completed application form.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said: "We have contacted the people involved to apologise and ensure all claims and payments are now up to date.

"Any compromise of data is unacceptable and we are thoroughly investigating these separate incidents."