AN experiment in which criminals in a prison were employed to recycle junk mail has been abandoned after a convicted burglar found a member of the public's bank details in an envelope.

Inmates at Durham Prison have been employed to sort mail-shot letters marked return to sender prior to the paper being recycled.

Last week, however, the prison and contractors decided to go ahead with a trial in which prisoners were asked to open the envelopes and tear out the address windows, which cannot be recycled.

In doing so, one of the prisoners opened a letter that included the account details of a Nat West customer.

He alerted a member of staff to its contents, who alerted the prison governor, and the trial was ended.

A Home Office spokesman said the prisoners had been used for mail administration work for some time, contracted by a private firm in Newcastle.

Inmates were asked to write down the name of the company sending out the mail and the address from which it had been returned, so the company's database could be updated.

He said: "It did not involve opening correspondence, and all those who took part were fully security cleared.

"However, a trial took place last week to see if it would be possible to recycle some of the paper.

"The trial has now been discontinued because of the security implications which came to light.

"During that time, only one item of mail was opened and it was immediately brought to the attention of staff."