Facial recognition scanners trialled

Last Modified: 19 Aug 2008
Source: ITN

Manchester Airport is piloting facial recognition scanners as part of efforts to improve security and reduce passenger congestion.

Passengers who hold biometric passports can pass through unmanned gates and avoid queues.

A scanner checks their passport has not been tampered with and that passengers are not on any security lists. They are then allowed through to the next gate, where a facial recognition scanner reads their face.

Rejected passengers are redirected to immigration officers for further checks.

There are five new gates for the system at Manchester Airport's Terminal One, which deals with about 80,000 passengers a day.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who officially launched the trial at the airport, said: "The UK has one of the toughest borders in the world and we are determined to ensure it stays that way.

"Our hi-tech electronic borders system will allow us to count all foreign nationals in and out of the UK, while checking them against watch-lists."

She added: "These checks make up just one part of Britain's triple ring of security, alongside fingerprint visas for three-quarters of the world's population, and the roll-out of ID cards for foreign nationals, locking people to one identity."

About 13 million people in the UK have been issued with a biometric passport, which contains a microchip holding biographical information and images.

Ministers believe the facial recognition technology will help identify criminals and terrorists trying to enter the UK illegally.

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