Ananova:

Foreign criminals could be working at Britain's airports because of a loophole in vetting requirements, it has emerged.

Offences committed abroad are not covered in criminal record checks on staff who work in the restricted zone of terminals.

It means the estimated "thousands" of foreigners who work airside at British airports may not have been fully vetted.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said foreign record checks are being considered as part of a security review announced in December.

Tory shadow home secretary David Davis said the loophole would be a "disgrace" if it proved to be a case of "commercial interest trumping public safety".

He called for immediate security checks to be carried out on all staff currently working airside regardless of the cost.

Mr Davis said: "It's astonishing given the history, and of course the risk on the airside of any airport in the United Kingdom."

Jim McAuslan, general-secretary of pilots' union Balpa, said people who could not pass criminal records checks should not be employed airside at all.

He said: "If it's good enough for pilots it should be good enough for anyone else that's working airside and these checks need to be carried out on everyone, surely."

A DfT spokeswoman said all staff who work in the restricted zone of an airport were required to pass through the same security checks as passengers every time they enter it.

"Furthermore everyone must undergo a background check when applying to work in the restricted zone," she said.

"This includes having their identity and right to work verified, five years of employment history and a check of UK criminal records."

More thorough "counter-terrorist checks" are already required for staff who work in particularly sensitive areas, the spokeswoman said.