Airport to run eye scans

A million foreign visitors will undergo hi-tech identity checks at British airports in an experiment announced by the Government today.

Volunteers will have their irises scanned and details stored by the Immigration Service. Every time they enter Britain their identities will be checked. Ministers claim the system, to be installed next year at five airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, will increase security by providing "watertight" proof of identity.

The volunteers will be people from non-EU countries who live in Britain or visit often. They will benefit by avoiding long queues at immigration desks.

A recruitment drive will begin at the end of the year and the Home Office expects more than a million people to be taking part by

2010.

Scanners could one day be used to confirm the identity of Britons entering the country, once passports are adapted to carry biometric data.