Airline passengers flying from Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport today will be asked whether they have any objection to being strip-searched — although they will not have to undress.

The airport is launching a year-long trial of a controversial X-ray scanner that allows security staff to see through travellers’ clothes, in effect rendering them naked.

Such are the sensitivities surrounding the latest advance in aviation security that staff have been told not to call the machine a “body scanner” but instead to refer to “imaging technology”.

As passengers pass through the machine, hands on either side of their heads, a ghost-like outline of their naked bodies, including private parts, are conveyed to screeners sitting in another room.

There is no hiding place for breast enlargements, piercings, hip replacements and, more importantly, knives or guns.

If the trial is successful the £80,000 machines could be adopted in airports across the UK, replacing the familiar “pat down” searches where passengers are asked to remove coats, jackets, shoes and belts before passing through the scanner.

It is already being adopted across America, where the Transport Security Agency last week ordered 1,000 scanners from Rapiscan Systems.

Managers at Manchester Airport acknowledged that the machines highlight breasts and genitals but insisted that the resulting images were neither pornographic nor erotic. But, as one member of staff said: “It does not leave much to the imagination."

Sarah Barrett, the airport’s head of customer experience, said: “Our passengers tell us that they don’t like being patted down by security staff at airports but they understand that it is a necessary part of keeping them safe.

“Imaging technology offers a potential alternative but we know that some people see it as controversial. That is why we are running a trial.

“The process is completely anonymous. We can assure the public that it does not allow security staff to see passengers naked. The image produced is a black and white, ghost-like outline of an individual’s body without any distinguishing features such as hair or facial features, making it impossible to recognise people but simple to detect concealed threats.”

Airport staff are sensitive to passengers with religious or ethnic objections. As a prelude to the trial the way the scanner works was explained to Faruk Ali, the airport’s Muslim chaplain.

Ms Barrett said: “He advised us that 99 per cent of people would not have a problem with this because the images are not pornographic or erotic but simply a mild X-ray.”

The machine has also been passed by the National Radiological Protection Board. One dental X-ray is said to be the radiological equivalent of 20,000 scans.

Passengers flying from the airport yesterday said they would be happy to take part in the trial if it meant getting through queues faster.

Ged Brennan, 37, a gas worker from Liverpool flying to Singapore, said: “It has just taken me 20 to 25 minutes to go through security. Anything that makes the process faster would be welcome.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Fern Britton: 'I still can't see that I was wrong'
• Extreme cooking
• Easy French: Tarte Tatin