Four-year-old boy's Nerf gun confiscated by airport security staff

Four-year-old James Hayward had his orange and yellow toy Nerf gun confiscated by "over-zealous" security staff at East Midlands Airport. His dad Phil Hayward said the following body search was "ludicrous" and that security staff should loosen up. The £6 plastic "weapon", described as a "semi-automatic soft dart gun" by its manufacturers, was taken while the family, of Doncaster, were en route to Lanzarote in Spain. The youngster was also patted down by security staff as his toy was taken from him. But East Midlands Airport, which offered to post the "gun" back to the family's home, defended the decision to uphold security.
Mr Hayward, 44, said: "Fair enough they are thorough but it just seemed a bit ludicrous to take a plastic gun away from a four-year-old. I thought it was a bit over-zealous considering how many people were trying to get through security at the time. It came at the end of an hour and a half queuing, so we didn't cause too much fuss because we didn't want to miss our flight."
East Midlands Airport apologized for the inconvenience. A spokeswoman said: "The safety and security of our passengers is our first priority and all regulations on security are set by the government. This regulation states that no items may be permitted through security that resemble a prohibited item."