Data backup tapes have been lost from the car of a security subcontractor containing sensitive information on 34,000 people.

The data belonged to high street retailer Boots, relating to its dental plan.

Information on 27,000 customers and 7,000 members of staff was contained on the data backup tapes, including bank details as well as names and addresses.

A statement issued by Boots read: "We would like to reassure our Boots Dental Plan customers that because of the type of data tape that was stolen and the way the information was stored it is highly unlikely that any personal data could be accessed or misused."

The theft occurred earlier in April in Bristol and is being investigated by the police and the Financial Services Agency.

Several high-profile security breaches have occurred recently including H&M Revenue and Customs losing records on millions of people.

News of this data leak comes at a time when top IT professionals have been meeting in London to discuss security issues at InfoSec 2008.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)