THE personal details of more than 2,800 workers at Thurrock and Basildon councils were splashed over the internet.

Both authorities are now investigating the “serious security breach”, which saw the names, dates of birth, telephone numbers, sickness history and even payroll numbers of employees appear online.

Police have also been drafted in to investigate the blunder, believed to have come to light when a shocked staff member at Basildon Council spotted the data while using Google to search their own name.

The private information was being held by Diagnostic Health Solutions, a company hired by both councils separately to monitor the sickness levels of their employees.

It is thought 1,600 employees at Thurrock Council were hit by the gaffe.

A spokesman said: “Thurrock Council understands the DHS information security breach was discovered at the weekend and Thurrock was informed on Monday morning.

“The council’s legal department will be writing to DHS on this matter and the Information Commissioner was informed on the same day the council was made aware.”

It is not year clear how long the details were on the web or how many people saw them.

A Basildon Council spokesman said the information was no longer available online.

He also said it was not known what went wrong, and the council had not ruled out the possibility it was done deliberately.

No public details or sensitive information went online and council bosses have confirmed their computer systems are fully secure and did not cause the breach.

However, staff have now been advised to “take precautions” if they receive any suspicious phone calls.