The BBC has reportedly apologised for filming a “gun battle with actors dressed as Arabs” – under the flight path at Heathrow airport.
According to the online news provider Ananova, quoting The Sun newspaper, the incident led to several flights being delayed. The website states that a dozen armed police officers, backed up by a helicopter, attended the scene after reports of machine-gun fire under the flight path.
They surrounded a farm near Horton, Berkshire, where they reportedly saw “a number of Arabs with machine guns, fighting a running battle” – but, as reinforcements arrived at the scene, they spotted BBC film crews and realised the battle was not for real.
A police spokesman is quoted as saying: “It beggars belief that the BBC can organise a gun battle below the flight path without alerting us. It is fair to say that our officers were not impressed with these idiots.”
A BBC spokesman reportedly said: “We were told police permission is not needed but with security concerns as they are, we should have asked.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
