Boy, 12, evades airport security

A 12-year-old boy managed to evade "critical" level airport security by bunking on a flight without any passport or documentation.

The youngster, who had run away from a care home in Birkenhead, Merseyside, boarded a plane at Gatwick Airport bound for Lisbon at 6am on Monday.

Despite airport security being on red-alert following the alleged terrorist plot to bomb planes, he managed to somehow get through airport security, get on the plane and was settling down with a drink and a snack when a member of the Monarch Airlines crew realised something was amiss.

The youngster didn't have a passport, boarding pass or any other travel documents.

A "security alert" was then raised by airport safety officers and Sussex Police and the boy was escorted from the plane by two police officers.

The boy, believed to be from Penrith, Cumbria, has now been returned to his care home after being held by police and picked up by social workers.

An investigation is now under way to find out how the youngster managed to evade the highest levels of security and get on the plane.

Stewart McDonald, spokesman for BAA Gatwick, said: "The boy had passed through a full security screening process and we are confident there was no threat to passengers, staff or the aircraft at any time."

A spokesman for Sussex Police said BAA Security was now handling the investigation into the security breach.

The boy is understood to have got to Gatwick by train - unaccompanied and without a ticket, which he has apparently done on a number of occasions.