A different airport security experience at Heathrow

I would like to refute M Hadley's description of lax security at Heathrow Airport on a recent trip. (Readers Respond, Dec. 30)

I flew to Paris, arriving at Heathrow's new Terminal 5 on British Airways on Dec. 10 and connected to a flight to France. I went through all the security all over again that I went through at BWI. I had a half-finished bottle of water which they fished out of my hand baggage and asked me to drink a sip, and then they discarded it. I also had to take off my shoes and had them screened.

I returned to Baltimore on Dec. 26 from Terminal 5. In security, they checked my bottle bag for explosives. At the gate, prior to boarding the flight, each of us was completely patted down and every pocket, zipper and cranny of hand baggage was thoroughly searched. Staff spent about five minutes with each passenger. My flight was delayed three hours because of this. It was a call for patience on everyone's part.Carol Allen