Three people were being questioned today, following a full-scale security alert at London's Gatwick Airport, British police said.
The scare was sparked by a car with its number plates removed, which was found abandoned on the A23 near the south terminal at 8.50 p.m. yesterday.
Part of the terminal was evacuated and more than 4,000 arriving passengers were prevented from leaving, police said.
Army bomb disposal experts carried out three controlled explosions before declaring the scene safe after five hours.
No suspicious device was found and the saloon car was removed for forensic examination.
Early today, three people were arrested on suspicion of placing an article with intent contrary to Section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, police said.
They were being held at Crawley police station where they were being questioned. Police said inquiries were continuing.
Mr John Dunkling, Sussex Police's chief inspector of operations at Gatwick, said: "The location of the vehicle and the situation that we found it in just gave rise to some suspicion about why it should be there.
"Whilst we regret the inconvenience to passengers, we were simply not prepared to take the risk of public safety."
PA