Travellers see long queues at Heathrow as tighter security causes delays

PA

Thousands of travellers faced long queues at Heathrow Airport last night after new security measures caused delays.

The Daily Telegraph reports that extra carry-on bag searches, which were introduced last month, led to waiting times of around 45 minutes and the start of the half term holidays put extra pressure on the airport.

The new security measures will remain in place indefinitely and could see a repeat in lengthy waiting times to pass through security.

Terminal 3 saw a line of passengers snake back across the departures floor from the boarding pass check point and some travellers reported the changes adding an extra 40 to 50 minutes to the 'security process'.

Problems have also been reported at Terminal 5 and yesterday's wet weather slowed down traffic on the M25, meaning some people arrived later than planned for their fights.

One passenger who experienced a long wait to pass through security told the Daily Telegraph: 'We saw a lot of people rushing for flights they were late for.

'There was a lot of confusion and chaos.'

He said he waited in a queue of hundreds of people and security staff were being 'very careful' when patting people down.

'They seemed to be taking more people than usual aside after they had been through the scanners,' he added.

Travellers who risked missing their flight due to delays and families with young children were pulled out of the queue and fast-tracked.

Other terminals were not thought to be affected yesterday and a Heathrow spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: 'We do not comment on the detail of security measures in place for obvious reasons. It is not unusual for security procedures to change.'

Heathrow said the new security measures had not caused delays previously. Waiting times are expected to fall once staff get used to the changes.

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