MP's missiles claim questioned

Ian Liddell-Grainger and the casings outside the MoD

A defence consultant says it is unlikely casings found by an MP came from lost Swingfire missiles.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP for Bridgwater, wore a flak jacket as he handed in the missile parts to the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday.

A total of 21 Swingfire anti-tank missiles were washed into the Bristol Channel by strong tides in 2002.

But Jim O'Halloran, from Janes Defence, told BBC News Online it was "unlikely" the casings came from these missiles.

He said: "They don't look like bits of Swingfire to me. They are too small and the wing configuration at the back is wrong.

"I don't know what they are but it is unlikely they are Swingfires."

I am not frightening people unnecessarily Ian Liddell-Grainger

Mr O'Halloran is the editor of Land-Based Air Defence for Janes.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said on Monday that he had found the casings on the shore at Kilve, near Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

He told the BBC on Tuesday: "I don't feel silly. I am even more concerned now.

"If they aren't Swingfires, then they are still in my constituency.

"I am not frightening people unnecessarily. The missiles were lost by the army.

"I showed what I had to ex-military people and they said they looked like anti-tank weapons."

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the parts should not have been moved by the MP in the first place.

The Swingfire missiles had been strapped to a pallet for underwater disposal in a routine procedure which went wrong when they were swept away in March 2002.

They were not found by police, coastguards or the MoD at the time.

The MoD has not confirmed whether or not the parts handed in were from the missing Swingfires.