Police are logging the details of plane spotters around Farnborough Airport in an effort to tackle terrorism.

The scheme, run in conjunction with TAG Farnborough Airport, has been drawn up in response to security concerns about the threat posed by criminals and “to defeat the terrorist threat”, the police said.

Nearly 100 aviation enthusiasts have so far signed up to the scheme.

The plane lovers will have to provide Hampshire Constabulary with their name, date of birth, place of birth, address, email address and vehicle details.

Police will then check the details against criminal records and “other systems” before issuing each individual with a membership card that will help identify people watching planes taking off and landing as having a legitimate reason for being there.

Hobby hassle

Aviation enthusiasts are hoping the scheme will leave them free to pursue their hobby without being hassled by the police.

Currently, due to special anti-terrorism powers, the police can, and frequently do, search any person or vehicle in a designated security-sensitive area, without needing any prior authoris-ation or having any suspicions that a crime could occur.

Due to the proximity to the airport and other military areas, the whole of Aldershot and Farnborough is designated a zone where such searches can be carried out at any time.

Police in Hampshire were the second highest users of stop and search powers under terrorism legislation in 2006-07 of all police forces in England, figures from the Ministry of Justice show.

There were 2,459 such searches in the county last year, making Hampshire second only to the Metropolitan Police for the number carried out under anti-terrorism legislation. That was despite a massive reduction from 7,027 the previous year.

Sgt Adam Henderson-Parish, the aviation watch scheme’s co-ordinator at Farnborough Police Station, said the aim was to create a “neighbourhood watch” for people around the airport.

“If they see anything suspicious, we can go out and check it out and we know the information has come from someone who is not just hanging around the airfield,” he said.

Criminal checks

Those in the scheme would be checked against criminal records to make sure they did not have convictions for any airport-related crimes, he said.

He added that the project was similar to those at other major airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick.

“It will make officers checking them more relaxed that they are there for a reason,” Sgt Henderson-Parish said.

“Because Farnborough Airport is designated as an area with a higher risk of terrorist attack, if we see people around the airfield they will be subject to checks and searches to make sure there is not a sinister reason for them to be there.

“Most people have a legitimate reason, and we are not there to stop them.”

One aircraft enthusiast, a member of an online forum about aviation who asked not to be named, said he and fellow airport watchers were often stopped and searched by the same constables.

Officers would hand them a form saying they were being searched under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and ask questions about what they were doing around the perimeter.

Narked

“Some members were getting a bit narked,” he said. “The vast majority of Farnborough police are no problem whatsoever. But you do get one or two who are a bit officious.”

One plane spotter told the enthusiast he had been stopped by the same police officer seven times.

“There are people who want to know what planes are coming in and who is in them,” the enthusiast said. “If we are suspicious about anyone, we can ring the police.

"We would do that anyway. But if the new scheme creates better feeling between us and the guys at the airfield then so be it.”

The enthusiast said he and most other spotters had “no problem” with giving their details to police to be held on a database and carrying an ID card.

TAG, the company that owns and runs the airport, said the new scheme would help police with security and build a relationship between the airport and another interest group in the community.

Brandon O’Reilly, TAG Farnborough Airport chief executive, said the scheme was not designed to protect the security of the airport’s high-profile celebrity clients.

He hoped to invite members of the scheme to visit the airport on official visits once or twice a year.

“We will bring them into the airport and show them around, to make them feel part of the airfield,” he said. “It is purely to reach out to another sector of the community.”