Fear of more air near-misses

BRITAIN'S air traffic control system could face more near misses because of problems with a new computer centre, the Commons transport select committee will claim tomorrow.

In a report the MPs will say the centre at Swanwick, near Southampton, may not open until the end of next year. It should have opened in December to replace outdated facilities at West Drayton, near London - ending thousands of flight delays and also reducing the number of near misses.

Since the 1990s there has been a steady increase of near misses, and in 1997 the number came to 46. But the figure of risk-bearing near misses was seven in 1996, the lowest figure since 1993.