Disbelief as £4m spy planes are axed

THE depth of Britain’s border shambles was laid bare last night as it was revealed ministers axed round-the-clock spy plane flights monitoring the English Channel, despite being told the move would undermine border controls.

Home Secretary Theresa May terminated the £4million contract with aviation firm Cobham to provide an ‘eye in the sky’ over British waters in January despite the warnings, it emerged last night. Critics said the decision to scrap the deal means the UK’s coastal defences are ‘inadequate’.

The Home Office now relies on air surveillance by the National Crime Agency (NCA) – but can only call on it for specific tasks, rather than round-the-clock monitoring. It is understood that under the contract with Cobham as many as six fixed-wing aircraft monitored UK waters.

At the weekend two British men were in court charged with immigration offences after 18 Albanians were saved from a sinking dinghy off Dymchurch, Kent.

Conservative MP Christopher Chope said he met Mrs May in December and told her the country ‘would be left vulnerable’. Coastal protection is now inadequate, he said. Last night Admiral Lord West, former head of the Navy, said cancelling 24/7 airborne surveillance had left coastal defences ‘in a very parlous state’.

Ministers revealed yesterday that the UK Border Force, responsible for tackling illegal immigration, is relying on the National Coastwatch Institution, a charity, to help it police the coast.

NCI volunteers provide a watch in the absence of border officers and alert authorities if they see anything suspicious. A Home Office source said it had access to the NCA’s aerial surveillance assets and can use it ‘as and when it is needed’.

The NCA refused to disclose its capabilities. Cobham did not respond to a request for comment.