A FORMER cop had a small gun necklace confiscated at airport security because staff claimed it could be a weapon.
Claire Sharp was told her jewellery – given to her by her late husband – was "too dangerous" and passengers might think it was real.
Her first husband died suddenly from a heart attack – they shared a love of shooting and were members of a gundog club.
She wears the token from Nigel Greenwood, who died in 2001 at just 32 years old, every day to remember him.
Claire was travelling with her current husband, Lee, a sergeant in the Met Police, and their 12-year-old daughter, Faye, when airport security staff told her she would not be able to take the necklace on the plane.
The mum-of-three said: "I was being searched by a female security officer and she saw my necklace and said 'this might be a problem'.
"She then called over a male officer who asked me to take it off so he could look at it.
"I explained it was just a charm, that it had been bought for me by my late husband and that it had been through airport security on loads of occasions – including Stansted – without issue.
"The lack of common sense displayed at Stansted was astounding. To be charged £8 for the privilege of their idiocy just added insult to injury. My fingers underneath my jumper pointed at someone looks more like a real gun than my necklace."
Claire, from Swanley, Kent, says the incident was even more traumatic because of the emotional attachment to the necklace.
She added: "I was widowed in 2001, I woke up and found my 32-year-old husband dead in bed next to me. Which was traumatic. So jewellery I have from him is particularly important to me. I'm angry now but in the airport, it made me cry to have it confiscated.
"I was in special branch for seven years so I'm fully aware of how airport security works. My police sergeant husband just couldn't believe what was happening.
"Last week I flew from Gatwick to Iceland wearing it, with no issue. I'd been to Moscow in November where they're mad on security and they had no issue with my necklace."
Stansted apologised but said anything that could be mistaken for a weapon could not be taken on a plane.
A spokesman added: "Under CAA regulations any novelty items, replicas and imitation firearms capable of being mistaken for real weapons will be deemed unsuitable for carriage and reasonably would be confiscated at our security.
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"We understand that security is not one of the most pleasant parts of your journey, however for the safety of everyone, this is our top priority and all regulations must to be adhered to."
The CAA rules state "any item that resembles a firearm in any way, whether capable of firing a projectile or not, is prohibited" and cannot even be taken in cabin luggage.
A spokesman for the CAA confirmed it was up to the individual security officers' to decide whether to confiscate an object they deemed potentially dangerous.
Today we reported on Sir Mo Farah's video where he claimed he had been racially harassed by German airport staff.
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