Chris O'Dowd, the Irish actor who rose to fame on Channel 4 comedy The I.T Crowd, has accused airport staff at Gatwick of "body searching" his three-month old child and "binning" his bottle.

Chris O Dowd Dawn PorterDawn O'Porter [L] and husband Chris O'Dowd [R] have a three month old son, Art

The actor, who has also starred in Hollywood comedies Bridesmaids and Friends with Kids, complained on Twitter that security were overly heavy-handed with his son Art.

"Thanks Gatwick security! Some might think body-searching a baby and binning his bottle was over zealous and weird, but not me! #ScaryBaby," the actor tweeted.

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Gatwick security specified that: "Passengers can carry ready-to-drink cartons of formula and self-prepared milk, providing it is in a baby bottle. These items do not have to be under 100ml nor carried in the transparent bag. However, the amount must be just sufficient for your trip and will be subject to separate security screening."

The former Charmed actress Alyssa Milano recently complained about security measures at Heathrow Airport, tweeting that staff had disposed of 10oz of milk she'd expressed for her baby.

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"@HeathrowAirport just took my pumped breast milk away. 10 ounces. Gone. Not okay," she said.

"They said they would let the pumped milk through if I had the baby with me. Why would I need to pump if I had the baby with me????" she added, in a series of tweets.

"Why can you test my toiletries to make sure they are safe but you have to throw away my breast milk?"

"I was told I would be fine if the baby was with me. Plus, it was less than 5 ounces per container. Why is my shampoo okay?"