LEEDS-BRADFORD Airport (LBA) has the third highest rate of arrests in the UK and had almost 100 in one year, a new study shows.

Bounce – a company that provides luggage storage – found Yorkshire and the Humber’s main airport had an average of 31.37 arrest per million passengers over the past three years.

This was discovered by analysing data from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent to police forces serving each mainland airport in the UK, covering 2019 to 2021.

Only Doncaster-Sheffield Airport (47.66) and Birmingham Airport (36.61) had higher arrest rates over those three years.

There were 172 arrests between 2019 and 2021 at LBA in total, which puts the airport in fifth for most people being detained in that time, behind Heathrow (3,262), Gatwick (1,510), Birmingham (659) and London City (190).

The amount has come down of arrests has come down over the years, from 99 in 2019 to 39 in 2020 and then 34 in 2021.

But the country was plunged into a lockdown in March 2020 as the Covid-19 virus touched our shores, with airports completely closed to the general public.

The industry has been erratic ever since and is only just beginning to get back to a degree of normality, after two further lockdowns – one in November 2020 and another in January 2021.

LBA had just shy of four million passengers in the three years analysed by Bounce, which is where the airport’s arrest rate came from.

The most common offence at Leeds Bradford Airport relates to violence against another person, followed by miscellaneous crimes against society, and fraud.

There were also examples of drug offences and public order offences.

Earlier this summer, a teenager was caught with a knuckle duster at LBA, on June 23.

Eryk Trojonowski, 18, of Coates Street, West Bowling, appeared before Leeds Magistrates’ Court in August charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and received a community order.

A spokesperson for LBA, said: “The safety and security of our passengers, staff and operations is our number one priority at LBA, which is why we have a zero-tolerance approach to violent behaviour.

“We work in close collaboration with West Yorkshire Police to create and maintain a safe environment at LBA for everybody.”

The data shows arrests which may have happened inside the airport or in the nearby area and not all forces provided the necessary data.