Anti-terrorism ID cards to be trialed in Britain

Thousands of Britons will be issued with identity cards this week for the first time since the 1950s in a trial that is central to the Government's strategy against terror attacks.

The pilot scheme will record thousands of fingerprints, face and eye scans, as part of a 12-week trial.

"There will be a large scale high-tech biometric trial as part of preparing the UK for a national identity card scheme," said a Home Office spokesman. "Numbers will definitely be in the thousands."

A poll last week found 80 per cent of voters support the cards.