A grandmother has called for Manchester Airport to change its policies after she was forced to drop her trousers and expose her stoma by security.

Colette McAreavey, 75, was travelling back to her hometown of Belfast last week (July 14) after visiting her daughter and grandchildren in Manchester.

She was given the stoma in 2021 after eight years of treatment for bladder cancer, and says she still finds the bag ‘very difficult’ and hasn’t ‘accepted it 100%’.

Colette experienced what she described as the ‘intimidating’ treatment as she went through Manchester Airport security.

She went through an x-ray machine and was patted down by security – all of which she had no problem with – before being led to a private room.

Colette was told to partially undress and rub her stoma while a machine scanned her hands.

She claims she’s never been treated in the same way at any other airport, and staff at Manchester told her they ‘had’ to search her and ‘it is what it is’.

Colette said: ‘I said I’ve already gone through the x-ray machine, and I was quite happy to be patted down, but this I find highly objectionable and intimidating.’

She added there was ‘no empathy’ in the way she was treated, which she described as ‘awful’.

Colette said the experience has put her off flying, and she wants Manchester Airport to change its security processes.

A spokesman for the airport said: ‘The safety of our passengers and staff is of paramount importance and our security processes must be applied consistently.

‘We’ve looked into the incident in question and are satisfied the process was carried out in line with statutory security regulations, in a private area, with a chaperone.

‘Our security colleagues receive training on how to conduct any necessary searches privately, discreetly, and compassionately.

‘We are, however, sorry to hear this passenger found her experience distressing and would welcome any feedback from her on how she feels the process could be improved.’

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