Missing dummy bombs spark security alert

London: A major security alert has been sparked after police lost a briefcase full of imitation bombs.

An officer left the case containing around 15 mock-up explosive devices on a train.

He was returning home after using the "bombs" in a presentation to security staff and police.

Among the items are believed to be mock-ups of the device that caused the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988 and of those used by the Animal Liberation Front.

One source said: "They are very realistic. If the briefcase went through an X-ray machine you would see fuses and what looks like explosives.

"This could cause a massive security panic and chaos if one of these was found on the Tube or someone smuggled one onto a plane."

The incident is a major embarrassment to the City of London Police whose officer mislaid the case. The force's acting commissioner Mike Bowron ordered an immediate internal inquiry.

The dummy "bombs" are used in police presentations to alert fellow officers or corporate security staff to what they should be looking out for during searches for explosives.

The case is also believed to contain mock devices in the form of video cassettes.

The city officer who lost the briefcase immediately alerted British Transport Police after realising he had apparently left it on the train. BTP officers halted the train and conducted a search but could not find the case.

Police had been hoping that it would be handed in after the incident on October 31 but it is still missing.