Probe into secret dossier left on road

A TOP-LEVEL police investigation was under way last night after a secret dossier containing counter-terror plans for Heathrow Airport was found abandoned on a road.

British Home Secretary David Blunkett described the disappearance of the papers, found near a petrol station close to the airport’s perimeter fence, as “very bad.”

The document, which Mr Blunkett said was genuine, was discovered by a motorist “flapping at the roadside” and handed to The Sun newspaper.

It reportedly showed 62 sites at the airport where al Qaida was most likely to launch anti-aircraft missile strikes and included key facts about escape routes, evacuation plans and road closures.

An investigation into how such highly sensitive papers could have been abandoned was launched by Scotland Yard’s Directorate of Professional Standards.

Mr Blunkett told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “The plans were obviously very good. Somebody disposing of them in a way that allowed that to happen is very bad.”

Home Office Minister Hazel Blears pledged to look at what action could be taken to prevent a repeat of the incident.

She told Sky News: “I want to see what steps can be put in place to make sure documents of this nature are as secure as they possibly can be.”

It was reported that the dossier was compiled by the SO18 Aviation Security team, based at Heathrow Police Station. “The documents have been returned to Metropolitan Police possession,” she said.

According to The Sun, the dossier contained maps and photographs and confidential details of police patrol times, use of dog units and deployment of rooftop snipers.

Dated June 26, 2004, the dossier gave surveillance and assessment information valid until December.

Professor Paul Wilkinson, director of St Andrews University’s Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence: described the find as “very worrying indeed.

“We should not underestimate the damage that could be done if this sort of thing got into the wrong hands.”

John Stewart, chairman of Hacan Clear Skies, a pressure group for people living under the Heathrow flight path, warned that a terrorist attack on the airport could have catastrophic consequences.

He told Today: “Heathrow is in the most built-up area of any airport in Europe. If there’s a terrorist attack that was successful, it wouldn’t only take out planes, it would take out hundreds or thousands of homes. Maybe tens of thousands of people would be made homeless and worse.”