ARMED police are going undercover for the first time at Gatwick Airport.

Plain clothes officers will mingle unnoticed among passengers and visitors in a bid to boost security.

Uniformed units armed with machine guns already patrol both terminals and surrounding areas at the airport.

Now special officers will carry handguns and wear bullet-proof vests and other body armour under civilian clothes.

Gatwick police chief Supt Graham Cox said: "The deployment of plain clothes armed officers will increase our effectiveness in responding to firearms incidents.

"This applies especially to the safe arrest of armed suspects."

The move has been prompted in part by an incident at Gatwick last year.

Aman allegedly abducted an elderly Peacehaven couple at gun point, forcing them to drive him to the airport.

The drama sparked a massive security alert, forcing the closure of parts of the South Terminal.

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All car parks were shut, the car hire bureaux evacuated, and the airport's monorail system between the North and South Terminal was closed for over an hour.

The man was eventually arrested and disarmed by an armed response unit, but there were fears there could have been a shoot-out.

He has now been charged with kidnapping and possessing a revolver with intent to nndanger life.

A Gatwick Airport spokesman said: "Safety and security is a top priority at Gatwick. We support the police in their measures to maintain the airport as a safe and secure environment."

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