Special police squad will protect airport

South Yorkshire Police has been allocated 346,000 to fund a team to be permanent ly stationed at the airport over the next year to deal with"wanted" criminals landing at the airport, banned football supporters trying to travel to foreign matches and environmental protesters trying to stop flights taking off.

In a written report, Chief Constable Med Hughes said there was a case for a policing team to be permanently based at Robin Hood because of an "increasing number of flights, and therefore passengers, being served by the airport".

He said Special Branch officers currently based at the airport were having to intervene in incidents "outside of their specialist remit", such as outbreaks of disorder in the passenger terminal.

The Chief Constable said the airport is proving to be a popular departure point for fans travelling to international sporting fixtures, in particular football.

He said this meant officers are needed to oversee the movement of so many fans and prevent banned supporters from trying to leave the country.

Mr Hughes said "considerable resources" have also been needed to deal with environmental protesters trying to gain access to planes to prevent flights taking off and said officers are also regularly needed to arrest people on landing when they have been checked against police databases and identified as "wanted".

He said as the airport continues to grow, more cargo planes are due to land there and the airport will soon be handling flights from "sensitive locations, including Pakistan".

Mr Hughes said: "It is imperative that we put in place a full time police presence at the airport in order to maintain safety.

"Whilst high-level discussions have taken place with the owners of the airport, they are under no statutory obligation to fund a policing team at the airport and they have chosen not to make a voluntary contribution to secure a police presence."