Landing cards for non-EU travellers to be scrapped at UK border from next week

Paper landing cards will be scrapped at the UK border next week, it has emerged.

Non-European passengers have been required to fill out the forms with basic information about themselves and their travel since 1971.

In his Spring Statement in March, Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed the Government would begin to remove the need for landing cards this year.

Proposals to scrap the cards were first unveiled in 2017.

At the time, the Home Office said the "outdated" paper-based system costs the public around £3.6 million a year.

The department emphasised that landing cards are primarily used for statistical purposes and not for routine security checks.

The BBC reported that the cards will be scrapped from Monday.

The system of using paper landing cards has been described as

A Home Office spokesman said: "We don't comment on leaks."