A FILING cabinet found in a Southend street contained copies of passports, driving licences and bank details of employees at Tesco in Westcliff, it has been claimed.

The cabinet had personal information of up to 20 individuals, all of whom are current or former employees of the Tesco Express, in London Road.

The filing cabinet and papers were found by Ricky Pearce, 22, of Treecot Drive, Leigh, and handed to the Echo.

Tesco has launched an investigation and asked the police to investigate.

Ricky, who found the cabinet with a friend who is a scrap metal dealer in Southend, said: “If someone not as honest as me had found these, can you imagine the potential for fraud?”

The cabinet was found in February, and Ricky was told he could take it home. It was only last week Ricky went to clean it and when he opened a drawer, he couldn’t believe what he saw.

He added: “When I saw some paper I thought it was nothing, but then I looked closer and couldn’t believe what they were.

It’s so careless. It should have been shredded.”

Among copies of passports, pay slips and bank details was paperwork relating to Tesco and the Westcliff store, leading Ricky to believe the personal details were of staff there.

He went, with his dad, Dave, 65, to the store and approached a senior member of staff and explained what he had found.

They were asked to wait while the regional manager was called.

A Tesco spokesman said they had reported the matter to the police, and added: “We have strict rules for handling sensitive and confidential information and we take this matter extremely seriously. We are urgently investigating how this information was obtained.”