A man in his 60s has been arrested under terrorism laws after traces of uranium were found in a cargo package at Heathrow Airport.

Police said the man was arrested in Cheshire on Saturday under Section nine of the Terrorism Act and was released on bail.

A small amount of the radioactive material was found with a shipment of scrap metal following a routine screening on 29 December.

Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “The discovery of what was a very small amount of uranium within a package at Heathrow Airport is clearly of concern, but it shows the effectiveness of the procedures and checks in place with our partners to detect this type of material.”

He added that despite the arrest, the incident does “not appear to be linked to any direct threat to the public”, but detectives are continuing inquiries to ensure this is “definitely the case”.

The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command said the man has been released on bail until a date in April.

The command unit was contacted by Border Force colleagues at Heathrow after the contaminated material was discovered in December.

It arrived on a flight from Oman after originating in Pakistan, Sky sources say.

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