UK defence papers found at site near major military base

LONDON — Confidential documents belonging to the UK Ministry of Defence were found at a municipal waste site about 4 kilometres from Catterick Garrison, one of the country's largest military bases, The Sun on Sunday reported. A passerby discovered the papers, which according to the newspaper contained soldiers' personal data, weapons storage information, shift-change schedules, security-rule violations and emergency response protocols. The documents were retrieved from a council-run refuse area near the Yorkshire Dales base. A British Army spokesperson said preliminary checks had found no "operationally sensitive defence information" in the materials. No further details on how the documents came to be discarded were immediately disclosed. Catterick Garrison houses roughly 13,000 military personnel, including units of the 4th Infantry Brigade, an infantry training centre and Royal Military Police detachments. The discovery comes as the British armed forces have faced a series of administrative and security-related issues in recent years.