The list of banned items is exhaustive

The US Government has awarded a contract for the disposal and destruction of the millions of items seized from careless travellers over the past two years.

Stringent airline security measures - which have banned a vast range of everyday items from luggage - were put in place after the September 11 attacks, leaving the authorities with more than 7.5 million knives, firearms, cigarette lighters and other potential weapons on their hands.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had considered a nationwide programme to return confiscated items, but gave up after the scheme proved a logistical nightmare.

Out of pocket

Now, the TSA is paying an initial $2m - and up to $17m over five years - to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to oversee the disposal.

Metal objects, including more than 2.3 million knives, will be sold as scrap metal, while hazardous chemicals will be separated and disposed of as cleanly as possible.

The plan has caused a murmur of discontent in the US, where many perfectly innocent travellers have been left out of pocket after having to say goodbye to their belongings.

But the TSA points out that regulations are quite clear - confiscated items automatically become federal property - and insists that the threat to security is very real.

In August alone, almost 600,000 prohibited items were discovered in baggage.

Not all airports are enforcing the law entirely ruthlessly, however: a handful have set up lost-and-found offices to allow the innocent to reclaim their property within a limited period.