POLICE last night discounted claims that al Qaida planned a strike on Tony Blair's North-East home.

A story in the Daily Express yesterday claimed that two Lithuanian asylum seekers, arrested two miles from Mr Blair's constituency house in County Durham, appeared to be gathering information for a strike.

The story claimed they had a map with details of the Prime Minister's home and appeared to have been scouting the area.

But the story has angered police whose job it is to keep Mr Blair safe.

Last night, a spokesman for Durham Constabulary described the report as rubbish.

He confirmed that two men had been arrested in a stolen car at a nature reserve last September.

But he said there was nothing to link the men to the Prime Minister's house in Trimdon Colliery and the incident raised no security issues.

The spokesman said: "This story is rubbish and the Daily Express were told this in unequivocal language on Friday."

The spokesman said a report that the arrest had been made by armed police was untrue, adding: "They were arrested by uniformed police officers from Peterlee, who were not armed and would have no reason to be armed."

The newspaper report said the men had a map that marked the location of the Prime Minister's house and routes to Trimdon.

Police confirmed the men did have an RAC road map in the car, but Mr Blair's house was not marked on it.

The spokesman said the fact that two men from outside the area had a map was not unusual or sinister.

The men also had a camcorder, but the only recorded images were of seaside resorts from Essex and the east coast, amusement parks and hilly scenery, which police said raised no security issues.