It's happened to a lot of air travellers.

The check-in staff glance at your carry-on bag and say it's OK for size. Then a jobsworth at security rams it into the metal frame-checker, huffs, puffs and orders you back to check in the bag.

(In my case, it was the spotty Hitler youth at Luton airport. And Ryanair was the one that gave me the nod).

Hence today's interesting tale of the tennis player who went to the European Court of Justice when an airline said yes to his tennis racquet but security at Vienna airport said no.

The case hinged not so much on the size of the racquet - the Viennese deemed it a security threat - but the fact that the EU had not officially published a list of articles banned from hand luggage.

Back in the real world, whether such a list existed, or had been published or not, is irrelevant. British airlines have long made their own rules based on common sense rather than EU bureaucracy.

EasyJet, for example, allows tennis racquets in the cabin if they conform to size regulations.

Spokesman Andrew McConnell said: "We take guidance from the Civil Aviation Authority but also adopt a common sense approach of what you can and cannot take onboard."

Thomson Airways, which operates 65 aircraft, takes the same stance. Tennis, badminton and squash racquets are all allowed onboard if they confirm to size regulations.

"It's based on a lot of things but mainly experience," said a spokeswoman.

Clearly, some sporting items are no-no's on board. On the easyJet website, they include "blunt instruments" that must be carried in the hold including cricket bats, snooker cues, hockey sticks, fishing rods and skateboards.

British Airways explains in detail on its website which items can be carried (and at no cost, unlike low-cost carriers) - these include cricket bags and tennis racquets.

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