Civil servant who lost MoD files at a bus stop was to be UK’s ambassador to Nato

Angus Lapsley's promotion not ruled out despite his mislaying secret documents in Kent

The senior civil servant who misplaced 50 pages of classified Ministry of Defence documents, which were later found at a bus stop in Kent, was being lined up to be appointed the UK's ambassador to Nato at the time of the incident, according to two government sources.

The elevation of Angus Lapsley is now understood to be unlikely but not definitely ruled out in light of the unfortunate episode, in which the mislaid paperwork - some of which was marked secret - discussed sensitive deployments in Afghanistan and the Black Sea.