BORDER checks were reduced at Bournemouth Airport and Poole Port as part of the government’s controversial pilot scheme, Home Secretary Theresa May has revealed.

Thousands of people entered Dorset when a scheme to relax checks on some citizens of EU countries was in place between July and November.

Former UK Border Force chief Brodie Clark has since resigned amid allegations he went further and scaled back checks on non-EU nationals without the approval of Mrs May.

He strongly denies the allegations but claims his position was made ‘untenable’.

There have also been claims that passengers on private jets were able to enter the UK without being seen by border officials, raising fears that security was compromised.

In a leaked email, one Border Agency official complained to passengers about ‘not even being able to see the passengers’ and said it was ‘at odds with national policy’ and ‘creating an unnecessary gap in border security’.

Bournemouth Airport and Poole Port were among 28 ports and airports where the pilot scheme operated.

The airport’s communications officer Sally Windsor told the Daily Echo: “The UK Border Agency is responsible for implementing controls at Bournemouth Airport and we have no jurisdiction over the policies and processes involved in their checks.”

Poole Port chief executive Jim Stewart was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Other ports and airports involved included Gatwick, Heathrow, Bristol, Exeter and Portsmouth.

Mrs May has announced there will be three inquiries into the scale of temporary changes at border controls but she remains under pressure from opposition MPs.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as ‘a borders fiasco’ and added: “There are even more questions than answers about what was going on at our borders this summer.”

And Home Affairs Committee chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, said he is ‘determined to get to the bottom of this serious breach of security’.