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Computer discs containing the names and addresses of 6,000 Northern Ireland drivers has gone missing.

The discs were sent from the Northern Ireland Driver and Vehicle Agency to the UK's main Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea. The DVA said the data on the discs was being provided in response to a safety recall by a number of manufacturers.

Details on the missing discs that were not encrypted include information about 7,685 vehicles. The information they contained included the owners name, address, registration mark of the vehicle, chassis number, make and color. The DVA did say no personal financial information was on the discs.

Brendan Magee, chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Agency, told the BBC, it was "deeply disappointed" by the mishap and could "understand why customers would be concerned. We were undertaking a review of how we transmit all this information. We completed that review last week."

"Unfortunately, this incident had taken place before we completed the reviewit wasn't encrypted. This was one of the problems we identified through our review, that this was an actual weakness. We are now looking at alternative methods of transporting this information."

This latest loss of data at the DVLA comes after the recent larger Child Benefit data leak from HM Revenue and Customs that left the government searching for missing discs holding personal information of 25 million people.