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This was the terrifying view which faced pilots approaching Heathrow when a laser light was shone directly into their cockpit.

Police , who took to Twitter to condemn the “idiots” responsible, say they are investigating four reports of lasers being shone in the direction of planes around the airport within the space of an hour on Saturday, January 30.

The first aircraft was approaching Heathrow from Dubai when it was targeted at 7.52pm, the Met said, with inbound flights from Geneva and Amsterdam and an outbound flight to Geneva being affected at 8.01pm, 8.22pm and 8.54pm respectively.

Police, who are still investigating, said none of the aircraft were in danger at any point and no one has been arrested.

MPSHeathrow tweeted this photo from the cockpit of a plane targeted by a blinding laser ray, accompanied by the message: “This is what happens when you point these stupid laser pens at an aircraft cockpit. Get another hobby #idiots.”

They described such laser strikes as “extremely dangerous” and warned the culprits that endangering an aircraft in flight carries a maximum sentence of life.

A Heathrow spokesman said: "Heathrow's top priority is maintaining the safety of our passengers and colleagues.

"We have a very robust security regime in place and we are always responsive and vigilant when it comes to new threats.

"As part of that regime, we don’t comment on the specific measures we have in place, but will continue to work with partners to ensure that UK airspace remains safe."