Police set up a precautionary cordon at the Airport’s North Terminal while they dealt with the incident, which involved a suspicious vehicle.
Shuttle services to and from the terminal were closed, leaving some passengers stranded.
One passenger, Alison Bailey from Copthorne, described her experience with the cordon as follows: “I had just dropped someone off, I was at the pedestrian point leaving when a police man stopped me. Initially they were searching an abandoned car. We were told to wait in our car. They cordoned off the area and removed everyone on foot away. They then got all the cars behind me to reverse back up the road and exit through the car park . It was a bit scary as I was so near the vehicle and anything could have happened."
Ms Bailey lives locally and said she drove to the airport to drop someone off when she saw the chaos unfolding: “the cars were starting to back up the carriage way outside the airport as they weren’t letting any more cars through the drop off zone, that’s why I posted it on Twitter to warn people of delays," she said.
Even so, she was impressed with speed and professionalism of the police response, saying: “I have to say the police reversed all the cars back very efficiently so I was there for about half an hour.”
The cordon at North Terminal has since been released and police are not treating the incident as terror-related.
1. The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated.
The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated. Photo: Adam Gerrard
2. The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated.
The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated. Photo: Adam Gerrard
3. The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated.
The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated. Photo: Adam Gerrard
4. The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated.
The scene at North Terminal Gatwick Airport where a suspicious car is being investigated. Photo: Adam Gerrard