Computers stolen from digital inclusion office

Burglars have broken into government's digital inclusion office and stolen the department's computers.

Digital inclusion champion Martha Lane Fox wrote about the break-in on Twitter, but the information was later removed and the press office at the Department for Business, Innovation and Trade said it could not give out any information about the incident.

A spokeswoman said the stolen computers were secure and that the data on them could not be compromised.

She said, "The police are currently on site investigating the break-in and we are unable to release exact details on what happened."

Lane Fox wrote on Twitter early this morning, "O bloody hell the digital inclusion office has been broken into and all computers taken."

She later said to her followers, "Hope it wasn't someone wanting to sabotage our plans for world web domination!"

The digital inclusion office was set up following the Digital Britain report into the future of the internet and telecoms in the UK. The report highlighted the problems faced by those who are unable to access services online and the office works to increase the proportion of the UK population who are on the internet.

Lane Fox says that of the 17 million UK citizens who are not online, six million are "socially and economically vulnerable".

She says on her website, "With so many government services now being delivered online, you are at an acute disadvantage if you are not able to search for health information, do your CV, look up schools, do your homework or fill in your tax return via a computer.

"In addition, research shows that net of the cost of the computer and the connection, people using the web save £276 per year."

Lane Fox is a co-founder of Lastminute.com and is a non-executive director at Channel 4 and Marks & Spencer.