'Plans to protect Heathrow found on road'

A dossier apparently containing secret anti-terror plans for Heathrow Airport has been found by a motorist in a roadside layby, reports The Sun, London.

The documents reportedly listed sites where al-Qaeda could launch missile attacks against aircraft and details of police patrol times. Scotland Yard said an inquiry had been launched into how the secret papers went missing.

According to The Sun 'the plans intended to protect Heathrow actually give terrorists a step-by-step guide to attacking it. The plans, recovered by The Sun after an appalling security blunder, reveal details of sites best suited to launching strikes against aircraft. They also give away confidential information about police measures including the times of patrols, deployment of rooftop snipers and use of dog units.'

'And they include key facts about attackers' potential escape routes, evacuation plans and road closures. The secret files handed to The Sun were drafted by security chiefs only last month to guard the airport from attack. They were found by an astounded motorist lying abandoned on a roadside just a few hundred yards from Terminal 4, ' it said.

'The reports, compiled by Scotland Yard's SO18 anti-terrorist Aviation Security team, show detailed maps and photographs of 62 potential terror missile launch sites. Last night the manuals, which could have devastating consequences in hostile hands, were returned to Scotland Yard by The Sun after being kept in our safe,' the paper said.

The article said the driver, a respected businessman who found them 'beside the airport's Southern Perimeter Road at midnight, as saying "I had stopped at an Esso garage and saw the pages flapping at the roadside. When I saw the Metropolitan Police crest and the word 'Confidential' I knew they were important.

"But they are so detailed they are potential dynamite to a terrorist. I just could not believe what I was reading.

This is the sort of information terrorists dream about. It is scandalous that this sort of thing could end up lying on a roadside. I'm just glad it was me that found them and not some mad follower of Osama Bin Laden."

'The reports are dated June 26 2004 and give surveillance and assessment information and aerial photographs valid until December. They have been written after assessments by expert officers from the SO18 Aviation Security unit, based at Heathrow Police Station,' The Sun said.

'The files study whether terrorists could train their sights on airliners taking off and landing on runways from each of the four terminals. Photographs of private houses are included together with addresses and phone numbers of local residents, business owners, head teachers and sports club members. The plans even contain safety advice for patrolling officers, warning them of hazards like broken fencing and glass on waste ground, it said.

The Sun is not publishing any precise details 'in case it compromises security. However, one report identifies a field close to the airport as being ideal for al-Qaeda to launch a rocket attack on two runways.'

"This site affords an excellent site to attack aircraft departing Heathrow. The firing point is just over the fence into the field. This is a very large site with little cover. The only way to patrol this area is on foot. Consider dogs and the air support unit," The Sun quotes from the report.

'One report also gives details of a Sikh "dissident" who lives at a site directly under the flight path. It goes on: "The site is situated immediately below the path of aircraft arriving/departing. This is a very large site affording ample cover for any potential attacker,' said the article.

"We are taking this extremely seriously and want a full and thorough inquiry. "The Commissioner himself will want to know what has happened," The Sun quoted a senior police official as saying.