Chief executive of Securicor PLC, Nick Buckles, has said he believes the group's key markets should pick up in the second half of 2004 even though current trading has remained difficult.

Securicor repeated its assertion that its US arm Argenbright carried out its airport screening responsibilities "properly and in accordance with its contractual and regulatory duties" on the day of the Sept 11 attacks.

Three security workers who allowed a man carrying knives, a stun gun and tear gas through a checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago have been sacked, the private company that employed them said.