Even more staggering, officials admitted they lost the personal details of more than 300,000 people a month in the year that ended in April. 

That figure comes on the back of fresh news that a recent lost memory stick held the details of 130,000 offenders, including 84,000 current prisoners.

The lost items included in the figure account for 14 laptops and 37 phones in 2005; 14 laptops and 10 phones in 2006; and 15 laptops and 47 phones last year.

Defending the losses, a Home Office spokesman said it did not believe any of the 43 laptops contained “sensitive or classified” information.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said the losses called into question the idea of ID cards.

"If the Home Office cannot safeguard such basic equipment, how can they be trusted to deliver ID cards containing the personal data of millions?" Grieve said.