Clumsy BBC staff lose £250k worth of laptop and mobile equipment
An FOI request has shown that over the last two years 1,656 licence fees have been spent on replacing lost or stolen equipment.
In the past couple of years BBC staff have reported 146 laptops, 65 mobile phones and 17 BlackBerrys as either missing or presumed stolen, reports the Scotsman.
Of the missing items 19 were recovered, meaning that the total of the BBC losses was £217,569. The missing laptops accounted for £219,000, the missing or stolen mobiles accounted for £12,913 and the BackBerrys accounted for £9,106.
A spokeswoman for the BBC told the Scotsman: "The BBC takes theft very seriously and has implemented a number of measures to reduce the level of crime. The portability of laptops and phones means that in any large organisation there is an inevitable risk of theft.
"The BBC Investigation Service involved whenever an allegation of theft is made, and where appropriate the police are informed and prosecutions brought where we can. Crime prevention is promoted across the BBC, but we are a large public organisation with thousands of visitors every week."