Flight ban on liquids to be lifted... but not at all airports

Air passengers face two years of confusion over how much liquid they can carry in hand luggage.

Passengers can currently only carry liquids in containers with a capacity no greater than 100ml after a liquid bomb plot was uncovered in 2006.

Large airports which handle more than 10 million passengers a year - including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - will have the restrictions on carrying liquids lifted in 2012, under proposals from the European Commission. But smaller airports such as Edinburgh, Liverpool and East Midlands, will have to wait until 2014 to follow suit.

This will mean a person travelling from a large airport to a small one would be able to carry as much liquid as they wanted on the outbound journey but would have to check in the liquids or place them in containers no bigger than 100ml on the return leg.

Stephen Hogan, of airport scanner manufacturer Rapiscan, said the rules would "cause uncertainty".