The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched an investigation after 30 years worth of Porton Down documents were found in a London bin.

The documents were found by a member of the public in a recycling bin at a car park in north London.

They contained highly sensitive details regarding Porton Down, Britain’s chemical warfare base in Wiltshire.

The wad of files go back as far as the early 1980s up to 2017.

Former Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind called for an inquiry following the discovery.

“You would have an inquiry in a situation like this, especially when there is a risk of this information falling into the hands of foreign powers or terrorists. This would automatically lead to an inquiry, ” Mr Rifkind told the Daily Star, who were alerted to the documents.

The Ministry of Defence have confirmed it has launched an official probe into the shocking find.