POLICE and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are investigating after sensitive court papers were lost while being conveyed through a North Yorkshire town.

CPS staff were wheeling 13 case files in a holdall from their offices in Harrogate’s Station Parade to the town’s magistrates’ court, about 400 yards away, when they disappeared.

Staff believed they had fallen from the trolley, but there were worries they had been taken by an opportunist thief, possibly while the group was delayed at a pedestrian crossing, so police were alerted.

The cases listed included allegations of drug possession, vehicle taking, assault, public order matters and drink-driving.

A spokeswoman for the CPS later said the files had been handed to police by a member of the public, 30 minutes after they had gone missing. The package had been returned intact and with its contents undisturbed.

She said: “We are treating this incident with the utmost seriousness and have started a full-scale internal investigation into what happened, which will include a thorough review of our security processes.”