UK: Top secret ... so why did council post details of high security spy centre on the internet?

Details of one of Britain's most sensitive spy centres have been revealed in official documents posted on the internet by a local council.

Whitehall security officials have raised serious concerns after the authority published a planning file revealing the 'national security' role of the development.

The major blunder means that the full details of what is believed to be a covert MI5 operations centre - used to share intelligence with MI6 and GCHQ - are now in the public domain.

The documents include plans of the building and details of its sophisticated 'anti-intruder measures'.

They also reveal sensitive information about the number of staff - including security guards - who will work at the spy centre, as well as its hours of operation and the location of all its security cameras.

Diagrams in the planning file show banks of computer servers, which are understood to form part of a system designed to speed up intelligence-sharing between Britain's security agencies.

The project was designed to disguise the giant computer hub by hiding it in an anonymous-looking warehouse in the South-East of England.

But the documents published by the council - which The Mail on Sunday has decided not to name for security reasons - show photographs and maps of the building and leave little doubt over what it is being used for.

Emails from the planning officers involved in the decision to give the go-ahead to the massive development also demonstrate the site's importance to national security.

A message from a part-time worker in the council's planning department explains the sensitivity of the site.

Incredibly, this discussion has been published on the internet.

He says: 'This is essentially a high security data back-up storage centre. The generators are required to maintain power and national security when the mains power supply is not available.'

The warehouse will also be used as a service centre for MI5's vehicle fleet.

The application was submitted by the Ministry of Defence using an apparently fictitious PO box number for a London postcode that does not exist.

The security blunder was unearthed by Alan Turnbull, who runs an internet site called Secret Bases. This specialises in identifying operations centres used by the security agencies.

He said: 'Details of this highly sensitive site were extraordinarily easy to find. It seems incredible that local officials have published all this material - apparently without considering the full implications of that decision.

'I alerted the Ministry of Defence to what I had found and how easily I found it.'

Last night the local council at the centre of the decision to publish the material on the internet said: 'There is a legal requirement that we publish all details of planning applications. We, like many other local authorities, make this information available on the internet.

'It would be down to the applicant themselves to ask for restrictions on what is revealed of their plans.

'Neither the applicant nor their agents asked for any restrictions in this case.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1090545/Top-secret---did-council-post-details-high-security-spy-centre-internet.html

UK: Top secret ... so why did council post details of high security spy centre on the internet?

UK: Top secret ... so why did council post details of high security spy centre on the internet?

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