THE mother of an 11-year-old girl who carried a potentially lethal weapon on a flight to Teesside last Friday has criticised security at Heathrow Airport.

But the Teesdale woman, who did not wish to be named, was full of praise for staff at Teesside, who on the return journey on Sunday immediately detected the compass set which her daughter had taken home to do her homework.

"My child is at school in the South," said the woman. "She boarded a British Midland flight at Heathrow last Friday night, carrying her rucksack as hand luggage. It contained a pair of shoes, her homework and the compass set, which I was unaware of until Teesside confiscated it on Sunday."

The youngster had previously had scissors confiscated at Heathrow when flying home three days after the New York terrorist outrage, but her mother fears that security might now have become complacent.

"I am concerned that security, which was so tight following September 11, has been allowed to lapse," she said. "It is worrying when my daughter is travelling unaccompanied. But it is also a pat on the back for Teesside."

A spokesman for Heathrow said he was not trying to make excuses, with many compasses detected in the past.

"We usually undo the lock and confiscate the spike," he said. "But these things are very fine and, depending on which way a bag is laid when it is X-rayed, can be difficult to detect."

He gave a reassurance that there was no let-up in security.

Speaking for Teesside Airport, security supervisor Angela Walton said: "We confiscate anything that is sharp or that could be used as a potential weapon."

Most passengers carried unauthorised items through ignorance, but regulations were now being issued on travel tickets.

"We have a double-check at Teesside," she said. "At check-in there is the opportunity to have items transferred to hold luggage, otherwise they are confiscated and a receipt given to allow goods to be redeemed later. Bags are then checked again by being X-rayed."