Three laptops containing the payroll details of over 15,000 police officers have been stolen from the offices of Logica CMG.

Personal details of over half the entire Metropolitan Police force were on the laptops. Logica CMG handles pay and pensions for the force.

One man has been arrested in Southwark and charged with burglary. The police said that the thefts took place last Thursday but have only now come to light. It is not known whether the laptops or the information they contained were encrypted.

A police spokesman said that the chances of officers being affected were " minimal" but that the force was in contact with UK fraud prevention service Cifas, UK payments trade association Apacs, and credit reference agencies.

Logica CMG recently won a seven-year contact to handle police pay and pensions and beefed up the security in its offices to prevent this kind of data loss. The company has offered an unreserved apology to the force.