Letwin, the PM's chief policy adviser, accused of security breach but spokesman says documents were 'not of a sensitive nature'

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Given his title – minister for the Cabinet Office – it would be a fair assumption that Oliver Letwin would have some cabinets in which to put his documents. But Cameron's chief policy adviser has been caught on a number of occasions disposing of letters and documents in park waste paper bins.

Letwin, a "policy fixer" in the words of one close Cameron aide, has been seen throwing the paperwork into bins, the Daily Mirror reported.

The newspaper, which ran a picture of Letwin apparently about to drop papers into a bin while talking on a mobile phone, said they included correspondence on terrorism and national security as well as constituents' private details.

One document was said to describe how intelligence chiefs "failed to get the truth" on Britain's involvement in controversial terrorist interrogations.

The newspaper described his actions as a "security breach", but a spokesman for the minister insisted that the papers did not contain any sensitive material.

"Oliver Letwin does some of his parliamentary and constituency correspondence in the park before going to work, and sometimes disposes of copies of letters there," the spokesman said.

"They are not documents of a sensitive nature," he added.

Letwin is a polymath who has some idiosyncrasies. He talks openly about being an early riser, which stems from the period he worked for the bank NM Rothschild. Letwin still does an early circuit of St James's Park, usually starting at 5:30am. In this period, he dictates sometimes as much as 90 minutes worth of letters for typing by his secretary during the day.