Confidential documents and the personal details of constituents were found unshredded in the recycling bins outside business secretary Vince Cable’s office in London.

The news follows last month’s revelation that fellow minister Oliver Letwin routinely dumped work-related documents in a dustbin in a park close to Downing Street.

Cable’s unshredded documents were found by a resident of his Richmond and Twickenham constituency, and handed to a local newspaper.

He apologised for the incident, saying "a system is in place for shredding of confidential files and for safeguarding case work. Nonetheless, some correspondence which should have been protected was placed in bags for recycling outside the office."

Cable said he has informed the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is investigated the incident.

The current cabinet has so far set a less-than-shining example to the rest of government on how to handle data.

On top of Cable and Letwin’s apparently careless document disposal, education secretary Michael Gove has been criticised for his use of personal email services to conduct government business. In September, the Financial Times reported that emails that should have been released following a Freedom of Information Act request could not be found, as they had been sent via GMail.