Children to be spared ‘naked’ X-ray scanner

Children will be not be subjected to a X-ray body scanner which produces “naked” images of flight passengers, airport officials said yesterday.

Bosses at Manchester Airport had a rethink on allowing under-18s to undergo the check after child protection experts warned that their security workers risked breaking the law by creating indecent images of juveniles.

The scanner being trialled at the airport’s Terminal 2 shows up a clear outline of passengers’ private parts and also displays breast enlargements, piercings and false limbs.Concerned travellers can opt out of the virtual strip search but the airport planned to let children take part if their parents gave consent.

Civil rights group Action on Rights for Children (Arch) contacted them this week though to point out the legal issue of security workers creating and examining indecent images of children. A Manchester Airport spokeswoman said: “We certainly aren’t going to break any laws in the process of trying to improve the experience of security at Manchester Airport with a voluntary trial.

“Experts in child protection have told us that this is a grey area. On this basis, if these experts tell us that there might be a problem then we’ll work with them to establish a definitive position.

“In the meantime no under 18s will participate in the trial when adult passengers start being invited to take part in a couple of weeks.”