A team of table tennis players were told that they could not board a plane because the ping pong bats in their hand luggage could be deemed weapons, it has emerged.

In a bizarre incident -- where the team was told their foam- covered bats would have to be confiscated-- the group almost missed their flight to a six-nations tournament in Edinburgh.

The group of table tennis players, who were travelling to Scotland to take part in a competition between England, Scotland, Wales, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey, were stunned to learn that they might not be able to board the plane, having already passed through security.

"I checked one bag and when I was going through security with my hand luggage, a lady said to me there's a problem with this," said Tommy Caffrey, from Balbriggan.

"'Do you not realise this is a weapon now?' she told me."

Socks

"I told her that I was going to play in Scotland and that my table tennis bat is the all-important piece of equipment. I don't care about the shoes, the socks, the tracksuit, I told her. The bat is all important and I usually carry it in hand luggage."

However, Mr Caffrey was told he couldn't take it through.

When the flabbergasted Dubliner explained to the woman that his teammates had passed through security without any problems with bats, the woman insisted that he could not.

He then had to walk the entire length of Pier D with the security lady to notify team mates that their bags had to be re-checked.

"One of the girls in the group told the security lady how a gentleman had handled her bat and told her 'ok, go through," Tommy said.

"It seems to me that it's the luck of the draw. It depends on who you get at security, said Mr Caffrey.

"I could hardly believe what I was hearing. They asked me why I didn't put it in the piece of luggage I checked in, but I told them it's because I didn't want the bat to end up in Stanstead instead of Edinburgh.

"It happened to me years ago and it can take days to get back.

Common sense

"I keep it in my hand luggage in case it gets broken. Anyone who plays badminton or table tennis will know that it takes ages to get used to a new bat."

"I think common sense has to play a part, and it wasn't applied in this case."

However, Siobhan Moore, a spokesperson for the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), said: "Our instructions are given to us by the DAA. "Any item that can be deemed as being able to attack is prohibited from a flight. A table tennis bat can be put into checked-in luggage.

"You can always wrap it up very securely," she added.

"In this day and age, people are well-travelled enough to know that there's tight security in airports."

"People need to familiarise themselves with what they can bring through as hand luggage beforehand." Rules are there for a reason," she said. "When things are being prohibited, the system is being held up for everyone else too."

- Geraldine Gittens