PILOTS' union Balpa has joined calls for action following a series of near misses between passenger planes and military aircraft.

It branded parts of the North-East where airspace is controlled neither by national air traffic control nor the military as "bandit country".

As reported yesterday by The Northern Echo, the Air Accident Investigation Branch has detailed a number of incidents in the region which could have resulted in large-scale deaths.

They included a passenger plane flying to Newcastle, that came within 100ft of an RAF Jaguar and a jetstream civil aircraft flying from Teesside Airport to Aberdeen that was ordered to take evasive action to avoid two military jets.

Balpa backed demands that the Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defence look at arrangements for so-called non-controlled zones, which make up nearly half the airspace over Britain.

Jim McAuslan, general secretary of Balpa, said an immediate review had to take place, adding: "There are more incidents now, both because there are more passenger airlines and because low- level flying has been banned by Germany and other European countries so their military aircraft have taken to using Britain's airspace.

"There is also the danger that with the increase in jet fuel prices the airlines may seek to save money by short-circuiting routes and flying more often in non-controlled zones."