'Special force needed to combat weapons threat'

A specialist police force should guard ports and airports, an official report said yesterday, warning of the grave threat of terrorists bringing "lethal materials" into the country.

A specialist police force should guard ports and airports, an official report said yesterday, warning of the grave threat of terrorists bringing "lethal materials" into the country.

Britain was at an increased risk of attack because of its network of small ports and airfields, said the report on a review of the Terrorism Act 2000, commissioned by the Government. There are 80 airstrips in Kent alone.

The report, by Lord Carlile of Berriew, called for urgent action from ministers. "The risk of lethal material entering the UK on a light aircraft landing at a busy general aviation airport or a remote rural airstrip is real," he said. The report referred to the words of a respected senior police officer who referred to "the soft underbelly of ports policing".

It found that 1,200 port officers were recruited from 43 regional police forces and that ports policing was not a unified service "by any means".

Lord Carlile said: "The question of whether there should be a single ports and borders force led by a senior officer of chief constable rank is worthy of consideration."

He said officers at ports might not always be of high calibre because the job was held in low regard by some forces and "used as pasture".