Volunteers are helping clear the backlog

The bags piled up following equipment failure and fog which grounded flights just before Christmas.

The airline said it had 2,000 items of luggage left which will be sent back to passengers before the weekend.

On Wednesday, British Airways (BA) said the weather and broken baggage belt at Terminal Four meant 10,000 bags had piled up.

The company said half the bags belonged to passengers from other airlines.

Working practices

BA put on air freighter planes to get the bags to their owners and drafted in volunteers to help.

The airline said the problems coincided with the introduction of new working practices for baggage handlers at Terminals One and Four.

The company is preparing to move its entire Heathrow operation to the new Terminal Five in March 2008.

It wants its baggage handlers to be working under one system when they come together at Terminal Five.

Currently the 2,000 handlers are allocated work in different ways depending on whether they are at Terminal One or Four.

The BA spokeswoman denied reports the problems had been made worse by not having enough staff.