Essex Police will be given at least £2m by the Government towards the costs of policing the Afghan Airlines hijack at Stansted in February.

They had put a case for £2.3m.

Home Secretary, Jack Straw, said last Friday that the force would be granted the money while the final costs were calculated.

David Stevens, Chief Constable of Essex, said: "The Home Secretary said he would view our claim sympathetically and I am pleased that the government has supported Essex Police in this very positive way."

Prime minister, Tony Blair, has already praised Essex Police for their "superb handling" of the hijack.

The drama had started at 2am on Monday, February 7 when the Boeing, with 164 people on board landed at Stansted Airport.

Fourteen Afghan men have been charged with seizing the aircraft and its passengers by force or threats, contrary to the Aviation Security Act, 1982.

The total cost of policing the hijack was £3.6m. A debriefing called Building on Success recently took place at Stansted.

Insp Malcolm Ding of Essex Police says there is still a lot of criminal investigation work to be done.

The Afghan drama was the fourth such incident at Stansted, all of which have ended peacefully.

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