Police investigating a major fire at Heathrow Airport that caused global travel chaos say they have found no evidence to suggest it was suspicious.
Counter terror cops had lead the investigation into the blaze at a nearby electricity substation, which caused the entire site to shut down for most of the day on Friday.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers left stranded after the fire at Hayes, Middlesex.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said it was no longer treating it as a potentially criminal matter.
A spokesperson said: “The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command has been working with partners to establish the cause of the fire at the electricity sub-station in Hayes last week (21 March).
“Following enquiries to date, officers have found no evidence to suggest that the incident was suspicious in nature.
“As such, we are no longer treating this as a potentially criminal matter, although we continue to support other partners, including colleagues from National Grid, London Fire Brigade and SSEN, with whom we remain in close contact.
“Should any relevant new information or evidence come to light it will be looked at and considered as appropriate.”
The airport closed on Friday after its power was knocked out by a fire at a nearby electricity substation in Hayes, causing chaos for more than 200,000 passengers.
It returned to normal business on Sunday, but energy secretary Ed Miliband ordered the National Energy System Operator to investigate the power outage.
An internal review of the airport’s crisis management plans and its response to the disruption will be undertaken by the former transport secretary Ruth Kelly.
It was reported the airport’s chief executive Thomas Woldbye went to bed on Thursday night and delegated the decision to shut the airport to his deputy Javier Echave after senior staff were split into two “gold command” groups.
One worked through the night, while the other took over in the morning. Heathrow said the decision had been taken so Woldbye would be better rested when he reopened the airport.
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