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A police chief in Manchester is calling for all UK airline passengers to pay an additional tax in order to cover the costs of security.

Greater Manchester chief constable Michael Todd told the Manchester Evening News that current anti-terror measures are proving too expensive for police to pay for alone.

He has proposed that all passengers pay 50p on top of their standard ticket price in order to fund security measures.

'We in Greater Manchester have a good relationship with Manchester Airport but other forces are not so fortunate,' said Mr Todd.

'There are some areas which have a small police force which ends up footing the bill themselves.'

Mr Todd says he believes passengers would not mind paying an additional fee to ensure their safety but the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) does not agree.

'Our view is that there should be no more taxes on holidaymakers - they seem to be taxed for all sorts of things at the moment,' said an ABTA spokesman.

'We can, of course, see that security at airports is important, but if there is any other way that the government can cover the costs we would be happy.

'Passengers are already paying for the environment through airline taxes. We would not support adding more taxes for security,' he added.

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