Southampton Docks will soon be playing a vital role in the world-wide battle against international terrorism.

In the wake of the World Trade Center attacks in New York on September 11 last year, US customs officers are set to be drafted into action at five UK ports, including Southampton.

Permission for American officials to work alongside their British counterparts comes after HM Customs and Excise signed an agreement with the United States Customs Service to work together on the US Container Security Initiative (CSI) scheme yesterday.

Southampton Container Terminals (SCT) is one of the fastest-growing operations of its kind in Europe, and as the second biggest centre for this trade in the country the port is destined to play an important part in any anti-terrorism moves.

The CSI is designed to contribute to intelligence-sharing and improve targeting of sea containers that are suspected of being used by terrorists to transport high-risk materials, such as weapons and explosives.

It also aims to prevent smuggling of terrorists themselves in the anonymous-looking ocean-going containers, which are now the cornerstone of global trade.

Customs and Excise confirmed that Southampton was one of five ports - the others are Tilbury, Felixstowe, Thamesport and Liverpool - to be involved in the CSI scheme as they carry the heaviest traffic between Great Britain and America.

"We are still identifying how exactly this is going to work but under CSI any US officers working in British ports would only be there to observe and would not be allowed to open containers as that power will remain solely with British customs,'' said a spokesman for Customs and Excise.

"However, this is a reciprocal agreement and British customs officers could carry out a similar role in America if it was deemed necessary.''

Container ships have operated on routes from Southampton to ports along America's eastern seaboard as well as to destinations in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.