Explosives hunt nearly abandoned over costs

Anti-terror police were nearly forced to abandon searches that later uncovered terrorist bomb-making equipment because of concerns about cost, it was revealed today.

Officers leading the Scotland Yard investigation into the liquid bomb plot came under "severe pressure" to curtail their hunt for explosive material hidden in woods near High Wycombe.

Andy Hayman, the former Assistant Commissioner in charge of the operation, said he had faced demands from the Thames Valley Police Authority to halt a massive search of the woods.

He said the authority was concerned about the cost of supplying local officers to Scotland Yard to take part.

The hunt for material which was believed to have been hidden in woods alongside the M40 began in August 2006 when the alleged bomb plotters were arrested.

However, the most significant finds took place three months later when bottles of hydrogen peroxide were discovered. The material - which was planned to be used in liquid bombs to kill hundreds - had been hidden by Assad Sarwar, the terror cell's quartermaster. He and two others - Ahmed Abdulla Ali and Tanvir Hussain - were convicted of conspiracy to murder on Monday though jurors were unable to decide whether they intended to detonate their bombs on passenger flights between London and North America,

Mr Hayman, writing in The Times, said that "thankfully" police officers had resisted the pressure to scale down the hunt. He said: "Some of the most important evidence was discovered only several months after the arrests of the plotters."

He added the incident illustrated the need for a major overhaul of the structure of anti-terrorist policing.

Mr Hayman said the present set-up of several regional anti-terrorist units with incompatible IT systems should be replaced with a national anti-terror squad based at Scotland Yard.