A police protection officer travelling with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been stood down from duties after leaving his gun on a plane at Heathrow.
According to reports, the alarm was raised by a clearer after she found the unattended weapon on board the United Airlines flight from Washington DC.
Police officers then descended on the scene on Friday morning before realising the gun belong to an officer assigned to the Foreign Secretary.
He had been visiting the US to discuss with political leaders the issues of Brexit and Northern Ireland.
The Sun quoted a source as saying: "The protection officer began sorting out passports and preparing to escort Mr Raab off the flight.
"For whatever reason, he took off his holster with the loaded Glock pistol inside and laid it on the seat.
"The officer then went off with the Foreign Secretary, leaving the gun behind. The cleaners came on and one of them found the gun in its holster.
"She was understandably shocked and called for help and police were called."
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the incident on a flight into the UK on Friday, 18 September and we are taking this matter extremely seriously.
“The officer involved has since been removed from operational duties whilst an internal investigation into the circumstances is taking place.”
