The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has apologised after details about all serving officers and civilian staff were released in a data breach.

Surnames, staff numbers, roles and where officers are based were accidentally published as part of a response to an FOI request.

Liam Kelly, chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) said employees were “shocked, dismayed and justifiably angry” after the incident.

“This is a breach of monumental proportions. Even if it was done accidentally, it still represents a data and security breach that should never have happened,” he said.

“Rigorous safeguards ought to have been in place to protect this valuable information which, if in the wrong hands, could do incalculable damage.

“The men and women I represent are appalled by this breach.”

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd, who is the senior information risk owner of the police service, said he had informed the Information Commissioner’s office of “a significant data breach that we’re responsible for.”

The force replied to a Freedom of Information request about the total numbers of officers and staff across the organisation, and accidentally embedded the personal data in its response, he said.

The severe terrorist threat facing PSNI officers made news of the breach “the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing”, he said.

“I understand that that will be of considerable concern to many of my colleagues and their families indeed, at the moment.

“We operate in an environment at the moment where there’s a severe threat to our colleagues from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and this is the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing this evening.