Britain's secretive spying agency has been left red-faced after a top-secret base was accidentally leaked in planning documents. MI6 bosses had been running a training centre in central London to teach agents spycraft and self-defence when they were forced to evacuate after floor plans and planning documents of the facilities were published by the local council.
The documents revealed high-tech additions to the building which included CCTV cameras, high-tech security gates and satellite dishes. Believed to have been located in Westminister, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officers were relocated for 'strategy' reasons.
Locals had previously raised concerns over "electromagnetic interference" from the building, which affected their TVs and radios, reports the Mail on Sunday. Planning documents had been accessible online since 2004 when intelligence officers were regularly using the building.
A second request in 2017 referred to the building as 'Government offices'. According to MI6 documents, spying bosses had been told off by planning chiefs after the satellite dishes were installed without permission 'knowing that Government departments are immune'.
The latest incident comes after the agency received criticism from MP's and peers before Christmas for failing to meet key dealines to provide evidence to parliament. The Intelligence and Security Committee, which oversees MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, lashed out at agency bosses for delays in responding to requests.
Publishing its latest 56-page annual report, it said: “The committee has been severely hampered over the past year by the failure of the UK intelligence community to meet standard deadlines as part of the ISC inquiry process. In the committee’s annual report 2019–2021, we attributed this to their reduced resources during the pandemic and their need to focus on immediate national security threats.
“However, this is no longer a credible explanation. This is a very serious issue, as it prevents the committee from effectively performing its statutory oversight role."
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