Call to suspend flights to U.S. after guards are filmed sleeping on the job

Bennie G. Thompson - chairman of the Congress Homeland Security Committee - made the demand after watching secret TV footage from a six-month undercover investigation at Birmingham airport.

He said: "If what I saw is the rule of how passenger security is conducted...the flights should be stopped until we get better trained personnel to do the job required to guarantee the safety of passengers."

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Security at the airport is under investigation after the lapses, which include inadequate passenger searches and falsification of paperwork by officials.

There are also claims that planes were left unguarded on the ground and that security personnel were not told about new checking procedures.

One worker is heard boasting about getting a job with an airport security company - despite having a criminal record with convictions for grievous bodily harm and drink-driving.

Female passengers are said to have been allowed to board planes without being frisked because of a shortage of female security officers.

The footage is to be shown in tomorrow's edition of Tonight With Trevor McDonald on ITV1.

Staff responsible for examining X-rays of luggage are seen reading and doing puzzles instead of watching computer screens.

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At one point, a female security agent is seen flicking through a newspaper, apparently ignoring an X-ray image of a suitcase passing across the screen in front of her.

A male security supervisor is shown sleeping on a seat near the departure lounge when he should have been carrying out checks on a Continental Airlines flight about to take off for New York.

A conversation between two baggage-checkers has one saying laughingly to a colleague who has failed to look at her screen: "You should have been concentrating."

Colleague: "I was bloody miles away."

First checker: "You're giving our bad habits away here. We don't care now anyway."

A security worker guarding a plane is filmed standing 50 yards from the ramp, talking to a colleague, with his back to the aircraft.

Aviation security expert Chris Yates said: "He is supposed to ensure those in close contact with the aircraft have proper authorisation. Anybody could have interfered with that plane."

Security duties are divided between the airport's own staff and private firms, including ICTS UK, which has 2,000 employees in Britain and Ireland.

Most of the allegations concern workers from ICTS.

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In a statement to ITV, the firm said: "We immediately initiated a full investigation.

"Our investigation will continue and reports will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities."

An airport spokesman said: "The allegations relate solely to ICTS.

"We are confident that the actions already taken continue to assure the safety and security of passengers.

"ICTS has highlighted concerns that the material in the programme may have been contrived to exaggerate and sensationalise the issues."

But a spokesman for the programme said: "Our investigation exposes serious security lapses by some ICTS staff which raise concerns of important public interest regarding passenger safety.

"We stand by the integrity of our evidence which speaks for itself.

"This evidence was gathered over a six-month period by a long-standing ICTS employee and by one of our own investigators.

"We researched security procedures thoroughly and this is reflected in the programme."

Continental Airlines said: "The safety and security of our customers and employees is our No1 priority and we would never operate a flight unless we were convinced it was safe."