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British tourists have expressed fears after it was claimed “absolute rubbish” bomb detectors were being used in Sharm el-Sheikh hotels.

Security staff at several hotels are using scanner-style equipment which has been severely criticised to test bags and cars.

It comes as three British tour operators and airlines stopped selling cheap last-minute holidays to Sharm.

Ex-Parachute Regiment soldier and global security adviser Paul Biddiss told us: “If they are what they appear then these so-called scanners are absolute rubbish, as much use as a chocolate fireguard.”

Conman James McCormick was jailed in 2013 for making millions of pounds selling fake bomb detectors worldwide.

(Image: Getty)

But a Mirror investigation found equipment with similar discredited technology still being used in at least four Sharm hotels.

Hundreds of Brits have been staying in them as they wait for flights home, plus British ambassador John Casson.

When we visited one hotel, security staff used the “wand” device to see if there were any explosives hidden under our car.

READ MORE:Cut-price Sharm el-Sheikh holidays scrapped as tourists still stranded

Mr Biddiss said if the scanners were the same, then they are “utterly useless”. He went on: “It is supposedly aimed at detecting vapours coming off a device.

“The only use for these things would be as a deterrent, but they could actually cost lives if people believed they worked.

“When they emerged in Iraq they promoted a false sense of security, with many Iraqis being killed because of these implements.”

Tourist Ben Thompson, 63, of East London said: “When I saw the type of scanners they were using I was concerned.

READ MORE:Inside the Sharm el-Sheikh ghost town as Brits avoid resort over security fears

"I remember the scandal back in the UK, when that guy was convicted of selling them as they were not any use.”

A Foreign Office spokeswoman in Sharm said: “Across the resort, airport-style scanners, sniffer dogs, body searches, metal detectors, private security, police and CCTV are being used to keep tourists safe.

(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)

"We will continue to raise our concerns over the use of the devices in question.”

While the FCO advises against air travel through Sharm, she added: “We have not changed the threat level for the resort.”

(Image: Reuters)

Monarch, Thomas Cook and Thomson have scrapped trips to Sharm departing this weekend, until at least November 26.

Thomas Cook said empty flights would go for now to pick up people already there.

It comes after 224 died in the Russian Metrojet flight disaster nine days ago.