The council has apologised and reported its data breach in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

Becky Hold, of Launceston, said she was “shocked and concerned” when she saw people’s names, home addresses, email addresses and car details when she decided to book a slot to visit the dump.

The booking system, which was introduced for the Launceston centre last month, is designed to reduce waiting times and improve road safety. After being deemed a success at Newquay, Saltash and St Erth HWRCs, the booking system trial has been extended to the recycling centres in Bude, Launceston, St Austell and Bodmin (Lanivet).

You can read more about that here: Booking system introduced to four more of Cornwall's waste and recycling centres

Becky said: “I would recommend NOT using the Cornwall Council system to book a slot at the dump. I went to book my slot this morning and it just gave me the personal details of a number of people. Each time I pressed previous, it gave me someone else’s details.

“I’m horrified that the council have had such a massive data failure and have let them know. They’re forcing us to use a system that no one wants and unable to keep our personal details safe.”

Someone's else's details showing on the online recycling centre booking form (Image: Becky Hold / Cornwall Council)She added: “I was just shocked – I thought, those aren’t my details! I logged on and the first thing that came up was somebody’s name, email address and reg.

"I’m like, 'That’s pretty bad' and took a screenshot of it. I pressed the ‘previous’ button and it gave me all the details of the next person – name, address, phone number, email and their car.

“So I screenshotted that, pressed the ‘previous’ button and I got somebody else’s details, pressed the ‘previous’ button and got a message saying the website wasn’t working properly. I thought, 'Damn right it’s not!'”

The Launceston household waste and recycling centre (Image: Google Maps)Becky emailed the people affected to let them know, as she said she would have been “seething” if she was in their position.

She added: “There has been quite an uproar over this booking system. It’s pointless. I’m not happy about doing it because I can’t see its point. We’re forced to do it and now they’re giving our details away.”

Cornwall Council has apologised for the website error.

A spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that some Cornwall residents have been affected by this issue.

"We took immediate action to remove the information and we are looking into why the error occurred.

"We have reported the data breach in accordance with the Data Protection Act.”