Staff shortages spark border control fears

Serious gaps in Britain's border control system are exposed today.

Home Office figures show that scores of key immigration posts at London airports remain unfilled, raising doubts about the system's integrity.

Opposition MPs claim there are not enough staff to ensure proper policing of those entering the country. They say overworked officers are not able to check all arrivals at Heathrow, Britain's busiest airport.

According to the Home Office, Heathrow has 688 immigration officers - 121 short of the target figure. Gatwick is 35 down and Luton is understaffed by eight. Only Stansted has more than a full complement.

The unfilled posts include senior immigration officers. Heathrow has 24 management posts to fill.

The shortages follow reports that officials are giving illegal immigrants " temporary admission" and then asking them to report back for questioning within 48 hours.

In one high-profile incident, 31 people were granted immediate admission at Bristol airport in order to ease the staff workload.

Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock, who unearthed the figures, said immigration staff were struggling.

"Hard-pressed staff are having to do more and in some instances passengers are not being checked at all," he said.

"The thorough checking of passports is not possible because the system is at stretching point. The numbers have been down consistently for some time. You cannot run an effective immigration system if that many are down at key disembarkation points.

"The Government says it is able to deal with the flood of people coming into this country but the staff are saying the complete opposite."

He suggested the Government may have deliberately withheld the true state of the staff shortages until after the election, since he had first asked the Home Office for the figures in the New Year but only received the answers this week.

"One can only suggest there might have been some deliberate avoidance by the Home Office," he said. The department admitted it had been forced to step up recruitment. A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are increasing staffing levels both at ports and at immigration centres.

"The Immigration Service is currently mounting a number of recruitment campaigns and associated training courses throughout the year to bring staff numbers up to target levels.

"In excess of 500 frontline officers are being recruited at UK ports of entry, with more than 100 staff having recently been recruited to work at border controls at Heathrow.

"We strongly deny that procedures at border controls around the country have been compromised by staff shortages.

"Decisions on whether to detain or grant temporary admission are judged against criteria that include compliance, security and safety."