Dear Mary

30 May 2009

Your problems solved

Q. I recently flew from Belfast to Pisa, passing through Gatwick on the way. I was only carrying hand luggage. Once I had got through security at Belfast, I made the mistake of buying expensive blonde highlighting shampoos, forgetting that I would have to go through security again at Gatwick. There was nothing I could do except give the expensive shampoos to another blonde girl of my own age as they would not let me take them through departures at Gatwick. I tried to find a post office in Gatwick in order to post the shampoos to myself but was told that the post office at Gatwick is now shut and there is only a letterbox with a tiny slit in it. What else could I have done?

F.W., Florence

A. No containers with more than 100mls of liquid can go through security in hand luggage. To put your hand luggage into the hold with the shampoo within it would probably have attracted too great a charge. However, you could also have gone to the Boots in Gatwick and, showing them the receipt from the Boots at Belfast, asked them to change the shampoos for cleansing wipes or some other product which would meet with the security criteria. No doubt they would have co-operated. Finally, if you had time and, for example, you had bought expensive scent or something worth much more than shampoo, you could have taken a train to Crawley or Horley to post the products to yourself and then gone back to the airport.

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