'Refugees' clean Heathrow planes

Heathrow airport was at the centre of a new security scare today after it emerged that a group of suspected illegal immigrants have been working as aircraft cleaners.

A swoop by police and immigration officers saw 15 cleaners arrested, all of whom had "airside" ID passes allowing them into highsecurity zones in and around planes.

Nine were deported immediately and a further two charged with possessing stolen passports, in an operation two weeks ago. Further arrests are expected.

The airport authorities and the cleaning firm which employed the staff, ISS Aviation, are facing calls for a probe into how the employees were cleared without full checks on their backgrounds.

All those targeted in the probe were working for ISS, which has around 2,000 UK staff on duties including plane de-icing, inside and outside cleaning, baggage handling and maintenance.

The company told the Mirror: "ISS complies with all current employment regulations, and applications for work passes at Heathrow are vetted by BAA, which is responsible for security at airports in the UK."

BAA Heathrow said: "There was not a suggestion of the workers involved posing a security threat. We have tightened up our vetting procedures and auditing of any staff granted permission to work airside."