Man arrested on suspicion of terror offences after uranium found at Heathrow

A man in his 60s has been arrested on suspicion of terror offences after the discovery of uranium at Heathrow Airport.  He was arrested and released on bail as part of an

ongoing investigation linked to the discovery of traces of the potentially lethal chemical element within a cargo package on Dec 29. The man was detained under section 9 of

the Terrorism Act 2006 when counter terror police swooped on an address in Cheshire on Saturday morning.  The legislation relates to the "making and possession of devices or

materials with the intention of using the device or material in the course of or in connection with the commission or preparation of an act of terrorism or for the purposes of

terrorism, or of making it available to be so used". The man was taken to a police station in north-west England, and was released on bail on Sunday until a date in

April. Specialist officers also carried out a search of the address where the man was arrested. No material that could be a threat to the public was found. Commander

Richard Smith, who leads the Metropolitan Police's counter terrorism command, said: “The discovery of what was a very small amount of uranium within a package at Heathrow Airport

is clearly of concern, but it shows the effectiveness of the procedures and checks in place with our partners to detect this type of material. “Our priority since launching

our investigation has been to ensure that there is no linked direct threat to the public. To this end, we are following every possible line of enquiry available to us, which has

led us to making this arrest over the weekend.