Gatwick men are held over baggage theft

Seven Gatwick security workers were arrested today in connection with the theft of £50,000 of property from passengers' baggage.

The men all work for Initial Security, a company contracted by airlines to carry out baggage screening in the airport's North Terminal.

The arrests, which involved 120 officers, came after a year- long surveillance operation.

Police recovered a huge haul of suspected stolen property including 30 laptops, 30 mobile phones, video cameras, watches and CDs.

The arrests were the culmination of a joint operation by Sussex Police, British Airports Authority (BAA) and the Department for Transport.

Two men were arrested in the North Terminal of the airport just after 8am today and five others at addresses in nearby Crawley. Two are from Redhill in Surrey.

All seven are now in custody at a police station in Crawley, Sussex, where they are being questioned.