Ditch that Thermos, it might be a bomb!
MANY a fan enjoys watching the tennis while sipping tea poured from a Thermos flask.
But now terrorism fears have ended even this most innocent of Wimbledon activities.
Security guards are confiscating flasks during compulsory bag searches at the entrance gates.
Fans who arrived unaware of the crackdown were forced to leave their flasks at left luggage areas in the car parks – for a £5 fee. Simply handing the flask to security and returning later to pick it up is not an option as the flask will be thrown away.
Spectators called the ban outrageous, particularly because cups of tea and coffee on sale inside the club cost £3.
One G4S guard said the ban was being enforced because of last year’s atrocity at the Boston Marathon, where a pressure cooker in a rucksack was used as an explosive that killed three and injured 176. There are fears that flasks could be turned into bombs if packed with explosives.
There are also concerns that fans might lob them on to courts during play, a guard said.
Author Caroline Fiennes said: ‘I’ve always taken a flask of tea but this year you can’t take them in, so I had to check mine in the left luggage before security – tea and all. Disaster.’
Novelist Tim Lott wrote on Twitter: ‘Wimbledon security guards confiscated my coffee thermos. I fought for my rights but they were steely eyed and relentless.’
Cool boxes and camping chairs are also banned but bottles of wine and up to two beers are allowed.
A Wimbledon spokesman said: ‘We try to ensure that visitors know in advance our conditions of entry, which are widely publicised.’