Pensioners seized by Heathrow police - over 'inflammatory' protest T-shirts

Mike Lacey, John Wilding and his wife Tessa were stopped as they tried to join a demonstration against plans for a third runway.

Police took their names, addresses and descriptions and followed them out of a bus terminal, warning they would be arrested if they returned within 24 hours.

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Inflammatory: Pensioners Mike Lacey and John Wilding, both in their 70s, were held by police who said their t-shirts breached airport bylaws

Now the three have written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, accusing the officers of harassment and abuse of their ‘stop and search’ powers.

They were stopped despite police knowing that a demonstration against the extra runway was taking place nearby.

Mr Lacey, a 71-year-old grandfather who used to work for Christian Aid,  Dr Wilding, also 71 – a retired academic and emeritus reader in psychology at the University of London – and his English teacher wife Tessa, 60, live in Slough, which will be badly affected by noise and pollution if the runway is built.

They were on their way to join a march to the village of Sipson, which is likely to be flattened if the runway goes ahead.

As they walked into the main bus terminal at Heathrow to catch a connecting service, they were stopped by five Met Police officers who accused them of breaching airport bylaws.

Protestors gather outside Hatton Cross underground station on May 31 before marching around the perimeter fence of Heathrow Airport to demonstrate against the plans for a third runway

In a ‘stop and search form’ officers wrote that Mr Lacey was questioned because he had been ‘seen in the bus terminal wearing inflammatory clothes’.

Mr Lacey said: ‘The process took half an hour and the police were unable to give any justification for their behaviour.

‘When we asked why we had been stopped, they said the bus station was private property and only airline passengers and people meeting flights were allowed to use it.

'If that is the case, thousands of people broke the law that day.’

Dr Wilding said: ‘Their manner was overbearing and arrogant. My wife in particular felt intimidated.

'I have no doubt we were singled out because of our T-shirts.’

The protest on May 31 attracted 3,000 demonstrators.

Scotland Yard said a 1996 bylaw enabled police to stop people and ask them to explain what they were doing at the airport, as it was private property.

A spokeswoman added: ‘Three people were stopped and asked to account for their presence. They were not searched.

'The officers correctly interpreted the bylaws.’