Airport scales found to be faulty

Three weighing machines were removed immediately

Baggage scales at East Midlands Airport have been adjusted after checks found a number of them were faulty.

Trading standards officers found nine out of the 52 baggage scales were giving incorrect readings during routine checks.

The machines were miscalculating the weight of baggage and packages by around 500g - over or under the limit - and three were removed immediately.

The airport said the problem has now been corrected.

Julie Miller, of Leicestershire County Council, said: "Because some of the bargain airlines are charging for overweight luggage we obviously need to make sure that the scales are weighing accurately and that they're reading correctly."

In this case, the majority of the scales tested under weighed bags, enabling passengers to carry a little extra.

Trading standards officers said all the scales at East Midlands Airport were now accurate but they planned to roll out more checks throughout the year.

David Howell, head of engineering at East Midlands Airport, said the situation had been rectified: "We immediately put procedures in place where my engineers test these on a daily basis to make sure this can't happen again.

"There are legal requirements that we do check them manually and we actually do them twice a year by a third party."