Heathrow chaos as bomb alert closes terminal

Heathrow airport was thrown into chaos yesterday as a security scare closed Terminal 4, causing more than 100 British Airways flights to be cancelled.

The disruption, which also led to BA flights from Terminal 1 being delayed, was started by the discovery of a suspect package as the security alert continued to grip Britain.

It came as European Union security chiefs announced plans for an air passenger database covering all 27 member states of the EU.

Throughout Britain few chances were being taken. A bomb disposal team was called to examine a suspect car parked outside Victoria railway station and armed police were out in force in many parts of the country.

Terminal 4 did not reopen until the early evening after the package was found to be harmless. Tens of thousands of passengers are thought to have had their travel plans disrupted.

Until the discovery of the package, shortly before noon, movement through airports had gone smoother than might have been expected.

Travellers seemed to be heeding advice to use public transport to get to airports and those who were driven coped with being directed to nearby short-stay car parks.

The terminal was evacuated after the suspect bag was discovered. Those passengers who had passed through security were taken out of the departure lounge and rescreened before being allowed to board their flight.

British Airways, which operates the vast majority of flights from the terminal, scrapped all European departures from 3pm and long-distance services between 3pm and 9pm.

Passengers were rebooked on to other airlines where possible or offered refunds or the opportunity to travel on an alternative date.

With around 6,000 armed police on the streets, Britain was becoming accustomed to the tightest security regime for years.

On Monday, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said extra measures were being taken at more than 450 sporting venues and 400 shopping centres.

Venues affected included Wimbledon, where road blocks were put in place and contingency plans were being considered for other showpiece events.

In London, however, there seemed to be a measure of resilience. According to theatre managers, business was holding up in the West End.

There was little sign of people being put off dining out. Top Table, a restaurant booking website, said demand this week was 20 per cent up on last week. "People are definitely voting with their wallets," a spokesman said.

In Merseyside, every officer was put on compulsory overtime, leading to officers working 12-hour shifts.

Luggage trolleys were lined up outside the terminal at Liverpool's John Lennon airport to prevent a repetition of Saturday's attack in Glasgow.

Beyond Britain, the concern about the cross-border nature of terrorism prompted the EU to step up security across the union as a whole.

It announced plans for an air passenger database designed to enable law enforcement agencies to track all people entering and leaving Europe as well as between member states.

The security measure, which may also include collecting information on air travellers within the EU, will be the centrepiece of a raft of Brussels anti-terror legislation planned for the autumn.

All airlines flying into European airspace will be required, as early as 2010, to hand over passenger name records (PNR) to national security agencies, information will then be shared across the EU.

The information, contained in electronic booking forms held on central reservation systems, will include the names of all travellers, all contact details, telephone numbers, addresses, emails, payment information, bank numbers and credit card details. Data also includes sensitive PNR information such as dietary or menu choices that can reveal a passenger's race or religion.

A European PNR database would, say EU security officials, have provided quick information on the movements and associates of those suspected to be Britain's latest Islamist attackers.

Franco Frattini, the European justice and security commissioner, will table new legislation to set up a co-ordinated network of PNR databases across the EU's 27 countries in October, for discussion at a meeting of home affairs ministers on Nov 8.

He stressed that, as well as logging the journeys of terrorist suspects from outside Europe, the tracking system would pick up radicalised European Muslims travelling from the EU to countries such as Pakistan.

The plans, while not reintroducing border controls within the so-called Schengen group, of which Britain is not a member, could still make it possible to track all air travel within EU member states.

Security was also stepped up at American airports yesterday with vehicles being stopped and searched and extra staff being deployed at terminals.

The number of armed air marshals has also been increased on transatlantic flights.