The Ministry of Defence has said it is investigating after piles of papers with potentially confidential UK military information were found scattered along a street in Newcastle.

The documents reportedly included army soldier ranks, emails, shift patterns and weapon-issue details. Other papers contained information that appeared to relate to an armoury and an intruder-detection system.

All of the documents appear to be connected to regiments at Catterick garrison, in North Yorkshire.

According to the BBC, the papers were found spilling out of a black binbag in the Scotswood area of Newcastle on 16 March. Photographs show the papers strewn along a pavement and against parked cars.

They were spotted by Mike Gibbard, from Gateshead, who was parking his car as he headed to a fanzone to watch Newcastle United’s victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.

He told the BBC he was shocked by what he saw, describing it as “crazy”.

Gibbard said: “I peered down and started to see names on bits of papers, and numbers, and I thought, ‘What’s that?’

“They were piled up against a wall, in a black bag, in the road, underneath cars – spread all the way up the road.”

He said he found more documents on the other side of the road and was alarmed by the contents.

“Details of the perimeter, the patrol, checking weapons in and out, requests for leave, mobile phone numbers, high-ranking officers.”

He said to his wife: “This shouldn’t be here. Anyone could pick it up.”

One document was headed “armoury keys and hold IDS codes”, thought to stand for intruder-detection system. Others contained general medical information and ingredients order sheets.

Another document was footnoted with the words “official – sensitive”. According to government guidance, the unintended disclosure of such documents “can lead to moderate damage (including to the UK’s longer-term strategic/economic position) and, in exceptional circumstances, it could lead to a threat to life”.

The documents were handed in to Northumbria police.

A spokesperson for the force said: “Shortly before 3pm on Sunday, 16 March, we received a report that potentially confidential documents had been found on Railway Street, in the Scotswood area of Newcastle.

“The documents have now been handed to the Ministry of Defence.”

In a statement, an MoD spokesperson said: “We are aware that documentation allegedly relating to the department was recently handed to the police.

“We are looking into this urgently and the matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation by Northumbria police.”

Government guidelines recommend that sensitive documents be destroyed using shredders or “burn bags”.