FURIOUS parents hit out at East Lothian Council after an employee lost a memory stick containing personal information of more than 1,000 primary school pupils.

Records of 1,075 children at Dunbar, East Linton, Innerwick, Stenton and West Barns primaries - including emergency contacts and medical details - were downloaded to a memory stick by a staff member for the purpose of working at home.

A letter from Don Ledingham, the council's director of education, said the actions of the employee - who was not a teacher - had been in breach of council policy.

The letter said: "The information stored included your child's name, school and class, emergency contact details, after-school clubs attended and possibly some medical information you have provided.

"The file on the memory stick was password protected and therefore I believe the risk of this information being accessed is minimal.

"I am very sorry that, as the result of the actions of one member of staff, we have let you down. We will do our best to ensure this does not happen again." The incident has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

One mother from West Barns told the Courier: "I'm raging. It's a disgrace, especially considering all the stories we've heard about information being lost by employees taking them home." Councillor Paul McLennan, council leader and ward member for Dunbar and East Linton, said: "I share the concerns of parents and add my apology to that of Don Ledingham's."