UK airport to trial new body scanner

A new state-of-the-art security body scanner is to be tried out at a busy airport, it was announced here Tuesday. A shop window-style mannequin image will be seen by security officers checking passengers who have activated the walk-through security arch in the trial at Stansted Airport in Essex, outside London, the airport said. The stick-like figure will have marks showing where the scanner has detected concealed items. No images will be saved or will be retrievable at a later date. Stansted said the scanner was designed to provide an additional and less-intrusive method of security screening while improving customer service for passengers by reducing the need for pat-down searches. The ProVision scanner, manufactured by a leading security company, uses radio frequency millimetre wave technology, not X-rays or ionising radiation. The trial will start this Thursday and is due to run for three months. It will be mandatory for passengers who are selected for a scan to comply. Any passenger refusing to be scanned will not be allowed to travel. John Farrow, Stansted Airport's head of terminal, said: "The trial of new body scanning technology is the next step on the way to further enhancing our security processes at Stansted. "Providing a safe and secure airport for all our users will always be the highest priority but the introduction of this quick, effective and safe scan will also significantly improve the passenger's experience of security searching and provide maximum protection of privacy."