Details of 24,000 legal clients lost by law firm

A laptop and an external hard drive were stolen during a burglary at the London home of a woman who works for A4e, a company which runs Community Legal Advice Centres in Hull and Leicester on behalf of the Legal Services Commission.

The equipment contains the names, dates of birth, postcodes and any awards of court made to 24,269 people, including the 13,015 who have used the centre in Hull, at Essex House, Manor Street, since it opened in 2008.

The firm is advising clients that the risk of the information being used illegally is "low", and said it was now carrying out a review of its data security procedures.

The Information Commissioner has been informed.

The company has apologised and set up a free helpline – 0808 156 6460 – for those affected.

A4e group chief executive Bob Martin, said: "We sincerely apologise to all those affected by this incident. It should not have happened. While we are advised that the risk to clients is low we are taking every precaution to ensure their interests are protected."

The centres typically offer free legal advice to some of society's most vulnerable people, covering areas such as debt advice, bankruptcy proceedings, housing and employment issues, immigration and welfare.

Concern about the handling of personal information has grown after a series of incidents in recent years.

In February 2008, the Yorkshire-based investment company Skipton Financial Services was found to have breached the Data Protection Act by allowing a laptop containing the unencrypted personal details of 14,000 customers to be stolen.