T5 foreign passengers 'unchecked'

The £4.3bn terminal opened in March

Security errors at Heathrow's T5 have allowed foreign passengers to enter the UK without showing their passports.

British Airways (BA) blamed confusion over the terminal's layout for overseas passengers being treated as domestic arrivals and bypassing immigration.

A BA statement admitted a "small number" of passengers from international flights were sent to the wrong sections of the terminal.

The airline said new processes were now in place to address the matter.

'Wrong zones'

It is understood the security breaches happened when shuttle bus drivers collected passengers from overseas flights and dropped them at a gate intended for domestic arrivals.

Domestic passengers do not pass through immigration or customs controls.

A BA spokeswoman said: "When Terminal 5 initially opened there were a very small number of incidents where passengers from international flights were bussed to the wrong zones.

"We are confident that this matter has been addressed and new processes have been put in place."

Up to 500 flights were cancelled and 23,000 bags misplaced in the weeks after the official opening of T5 in March.