She contacted bbc.co.uk/berkshire with her story. "When the bags came through, first of all one person's suitcase came through and it was all open. "At first people were laughing and thought it was funny. The suitcase had split and there were bits of underwear on show. "But then we saw more and more ripped or damaged cases coming through and realised there was a problem." Marked increase With passengers forced to place valuable items in the hold rather than carry them as hand luggage, suitcases have become a target for theft. Police at Gatwick say there has been a marked increase in thefts from passengers' baggage in transit during the recent security alert. Eight passengers on outbound flights have reported items stolen from bags they placed in the hold since the start of the scare - compared to just one theft over the same period last year. | "It's put me off flying. I felt violated. It's my property and someone's been in there." | | Paula Ryan |
The last five days have seen 52 reported thefts compared to 16 over the same period a year ago. All over the place Paula showed us her suitcase and told us how she had found it at Gatwick. "When the bag came back to me the combination lock was no longer on it. "As soon as I opened the bag I knew someone had been in it. My handbag was unzipped and all the contents were all over the place. "I looked for sunglasses and my mobile phone - the only things I had at all on my possession that were worth money - and both of them had gone." She says this experience, and not the increased security itself, has affected her confidence in air travel. "It's put me off flying. I felt violated. It's my property and someone's been in there. It's not nice." | 
