Reporters 'paid way into Palace'

Buckingham Palace has said it is investigating the allegations

Buckingham Palace has said it is investigating allegations undercover reporters were given access to highly sensitive areas of the Palace.

Two reporters from the News of the World newspaper are said to have been waved inside, without security checks.

It is alleged one of them even sat in the Queen's State Bentley car.

According to the newspaper, chauffeur Brian Sirjusingh was paid £1,000 to give the reporters a tour. The Palace said it takes security very seriously.

'Fake Sheikh'

BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said he understood Mr Sirjusingh was a pool chauffeur - one called when the dedicated royal chauffeurs are unavailable.

The News of World reports the journalists posed as Middle Eastern businessmen and were waved into what were supposed to be secure areas of the Queen's home.

According to the paper, the men were led past a police checkpoint and a sign demanding to see identification, and then on into the royal garage.

It could easily have been a terrorist walking into the palace and planting a bomb

Robert Jobson
News of the World

The newspaper's royal editor, Robert Jobson, told the BBC that lessons should have been learnt from previous security breaches.

He said: "There have been a number of security breaches at the palace over the years but this is right up there in terms of being a flagrant breach of the security.

"They should have been checked as they walked in but they weren't and therefore it could easily have been a terrorist walking into the palace and planting a bomb in the car rather than the News of the World exposing the poor security of the palace."

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "Any security matter is taken very seriously and we will look into these allegations."

The paper's investigation was led by Mazher Mahmood, who has become known as the "fake sheikh" after a series of high-profile journalistic stings for the newspaper in recent years.