BA still clearing up after the storms

British Airways is today preparing to fly a cargo plane loaded with luggage to America after technical problems and severe weather at Heathrow left 7,000 bags stranded at the airport.

The airline has sent the baggage by lorry to destinations on the Continent and Britain as well as chartering the plane to take luggage to New York.

Baggage handlers unloaded hundreds of items from cargo holds after last week's storms in London halted about 100 flights. In addition, a baggage belt at Terminal One broke down so the airport could not transfer luggage between connecting flights for a day. Then a belt broke down in Terminal Four.

Business analyst Jaime Marlow, 26, was caught up in the chaos en route to Australia and has still to get her baggage. She said: "Someone must know what's going on. I have no clothes."

An airline spokesman said: "We are trying to step up our operation to clear up the backlog."