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Photographs, fingerprints and confidential documents relating to suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists were allegedly found in the memory of the second-hand Nikon Coolpix camera, which was bought on the auction site for only £17.

The confidential files were discovered after the buyer downloaded his holiday photos. He immediately reported the files to the police, who initially treated it as a joke, according to a report in The Sun.

However, the police subsequently descended on the man's home, seizing his computer and camera equipment.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Police told the newspaper: "We can confirm we seized a camera after a member of the public reported it. Intelligence officers are

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investigating."

The police have reportedly replaced the seized equipment, at a cost of £1,000.

The news is hardly likely to help MI6's recruitment drive, which it was revealed earlier this week, saw the intelligence
service place adverts on Facebook.

The extraordinary leak also comes just a day after it was announced that a Cabinet Office official who left top secret documents on a train is to be charged under the Official Secrets Act.

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