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A few hours · a season · a multi-year contract
X-ray & Metal Detector Hire
Hire a checkpoint. We'll handle everything else. Short-term and long-term hire of X-ray machines, walk-through metal detectors and handheld detectors — from a few hours to a full season, anywhere in the UK and Ireland, and across Europe. Delivered, installed, commissioned, operated if you need it, and supported around the clock.
& Europedelivered and installed by our own engineers
Start to finish
How Hire Works
- 1 — Tell us the basicsDates, location and expected footfall. That is genuinely all we need to start; everything else we can work out with you.
- 2 — We design the checkpointHow many lanes, what goes in each one, how the queue flows and where the power comes from. You get a quote quickly, and a layout you can show to whoever signs it off.
- 3 — Delivery, installation and commissioningOur own engineers deliver the equipment, position it, power it up and prove it works before they leave. No flat-packed boxes on a pallet.
- 4 — Operators, if you need themTrained operators supplied with the equipment, or we brief your own team and hand over a checkpoint they can run.
- 5 — Cover for the duration24/7 technical cover on event hires. If something needs attention it gets attention, and where a fault cannot be fixed in place a replacement comes off the fleet.
- 6 — CollectionWe come back, strike the checkpoint and take it away. You keep nothing but the invoice.
Hire from a few hours or a single day. There is no minimum term to clear before we will talk to you — a one-morning function is as welcome as a season of fixtures.
Same-day delivery is sometimes possible. It depends on the equipment, the distance and what is already out. Most hires are planned days or weeks ahead, which is always the better job. If you are stuck today, call and we will tell you honestly what we can reach you with.
Operators supplied if you need them. Or run the lanes with your own people — plenty of clients do, and we set the equipment up for them.
What you can hire
The Full Checkpoint, Or Any Part of It
AI-Assisted Lanes
Advanced AI weapons detection on hire machines — automatic threat flagging and one-operator-multiple-lane efficiency, proven at iconic British motorsport and championship golf.
Single Lanes
An X-ray with rollers, a walk-through detector and handhelds — the classic search-point for offices, courts, small venues and functions. In and screening within hours.
Full Checkpoints
Multi-lane screening with tables, queue design and signage — engineered around your footprint, indoors, in tents or in temporary structures.
X-ray Machines
Smiths Detection, Rapiscan and Hissco X-rays in every tunnel size, from compact mailroom cabinets to full pallet and freight systems.
View range →
Walk-Through Metal Detectors
Garrett and CEIA archways, delivered, positioned and calibrated to your venue and your queue.
View range →
Handheld Metal Detectors
Garrett Guide and Super Scanner V for secondary search, in fleet quantities with docking stations.
View range →
Explosives Trace Detection
Smiths IONSCAN desktop and handheld ETDs, calibrated in our own workshop before they reach your gate.
View range →
Liquid Scanners
Kumahira LSR-M2 units clearing sealed containers in seconds, for venues screening bottles and flasks.
View range →
Containerised Checkpoints
A whole checkpoint in a container, craned into place where there's no building to screen in.
View range →All manufacturer names are the trademarks of their respective owners and are used here to identify the equipment in our hire fleet. RedteQ is an independent, multi-brand supplier; where we hold a formal distribution appointment we say so on the partners page.
Not events only
Who Hires From Us
Events are the most visible part of the fleet and nowhere near all of it. If you have a legitimate need to screen people, bags or parcels, we can supply the equipment. These are typical uses rather than a client list.
Events, Venues & Stadiums
Festivals, fixtures, conferences and one-off functions — a weekend of lanes or a whole season, at stadiums, arenas and outdoor sites.
Event screening →Manufacturing & Warehousing
Exit screening during a loss-prevention push, contamination and foreign-object checks on a line, or cover while a permanent system is specified.
Loss prevention →Offices, Courts & Public Buildings
A reception search point during a refurbishment, a period of heightened threat, a tribunal or a VIP visit — in and screening the same week.
Office screening →Schools, Colleges & Exam Halls
Archways and handhelds for a defined period — an exam series, a policy trial, or a response to a specific incident — without buying equipment you will use twice a year.
Metal detectors →Mailrooms & Post Rooms
Temporary parcel screening while a threat is live, while your own cabinet is being serviced, or through a seasonal peak in deliveries.
Mailroom screening →Ports, Airports & Business Aviation
Cover during maintenance, upgrades or a seasonal peak, including cabin baggage systems on long-term hire.
Aviation screening →Also relevant: stadiums and venues and transport hubs. And we supply real screening equipment to television and film productions — that one is further down the page.
Long-term hire
Airport-Grade Compliance Without The Capital Cost
Refurbished equipment upgraded to the latest aviation security standards, leased at a fraction of the price of buying new. That's how smaller airports and private jet centres meet regulatory standards, and how venues put proportionate Martyn's Law measures in place without breaking the budget.
- Full service & maintenance included in monthly rental fees
- Stay current: swap or upgrade technology as requirements evolve
- Budget-friendly: a predictable monthly cost instead of capital expenditure
- Cabin baggage screening systems: Smiths Detection HI-SCAN 6040aTiX and 7555aTiX dual-view systems with automatic explosives detection, for C1 and C2 cabin baggage regimes at airports and business aviation — available on long-term hire rather than purchase
Coverage
Where We Deliver
All of the UK and Ireland, and across Europe. Our own engineers travel with the equipment rather than subcontractors, which is why the fleet turns up in one piece and works when it gets there.
London & South East
Our warehouse is in Hampshire, so the capital and the South East are a short run. NFL games at Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur, the Houses of Parliament and same-week London installs.
Hire in London & the South East →
Birmingham & The Midlands
Over 100 X-rays across the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and race-week screening at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone.
Hire in the Midlands →
Ireland
A large stock of systems held in Ireland, ready to deploy. NFL at Croke Park and 70+ systems across County Clare for the Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg.
Hire in Ireland →Scotland, the North of England and Wales are covered from the same fleet, and the equipment travels into Europe regularly — NFL international games at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid among them. We are ready to deploy worldwide; tell us where and we will tell you honestly what it takes to get there.
Prop hire for TV & film
Real Screening Equipment, Ready For Its Close-Up
Art departments and prop masters come to us because the equipment is the real thing — genuine conveyor X-rays, walk-through metal detectors and checkpoint furniture, from airport scenes to security at building entrances. We've supplied productions many times, most recently the G-Shock advert featuring Central Cee.
Our engineers are smart enough to "rig" the systems for the script: detectors that alarm exactly on cue, and X-ray-safe X-rays — belts running, red warning lights on, but no radiation whatsoever. All controlled, all safe, all convincing on camera.
- Airport & checkpoint scenes: full lanes with trays, tables and barriers, styled to match the era or setting
- Rigged on cue: alarms, lights and belts triggered exactly when the director wants them
- Delivered & operated: installed by the same engineers who build real checkpoints, on set for as long as you need
Hire Questions, Answered
What's the minimum hire period?
A single day, and in some cases just a few hours. There is no minimum term to clear before we will talk to you — a one-morning function is as welcome as a season of fixtures, and the same fleet covers both.
How quickly can you deliver?
Same-day delivery is sometimes possible, depending on the equipment, the distance and what is already committed elsewhere. We will not promise it blind.
Most hires are planned days or weeks ahead, which is always the better outcome because it lets us design the checkpoint properly rather than drop equipment and hope. If you are in trouble today, call 0800 161 5512 and we will tell you honestly what we can reach you with.
Do you supply operators?
Yes — trained operators can be supplied with the equipment if you need them. Plenty of clients run the lanes with their own staff instead, in which case we set the equipment up, brief your team and stay contactable throughout.
AI-assisted lanes also reduce how many trained screeners a checkpoint needs, because one operator can oversee several lanes at a consistent detection standard. If you would rather train your own people properly, we run operator training too.
Which areas do you cover?
All of the UK and Ireland, and across Europe. Our own engineers deliver, install and support the equipment rather than subcontractors, and we hold a large stock of systems in Ireland as well as the UK fleet.
Area pages: London & the South East, the Midlands and Ireland. The fleet also travels into Europe — NFL international games at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid among them — and we are ready to deploy worldwide.
Do you only hire for events?
No. Events are the most visible part of the hire fleet but far from all of it. Manufacturing and warehouse sites, offices, courts and public buildings, schools and colleges, mailrooms, ports, airports and business aviation all hire from us — often to cover a refurbishment, a period of heightened threat, a maintenance window or a seasonal peak.
If you have a legitimate need to screen people, bags or parcels, we can supply the equipment.
Which X-ray brands can I hire?
Smiths Detection, Rapiscan and Hissco X-ray machines, in a range of tunnel sizes from compact mailroom cabinets through checkpoint and hold-baggage machines to pallet and freight systems.
On the metal detection side the fleet runs Garrett and CEIA archways and Garrett handhelds, with Smiths IONSCAN trace detection and Kumahira liquid scanners alongside. Manufacturer names are used to identify the equipment; see the partners page for where we hold a formal appointment.
Can I hire an X-ray machine for a single event?
Yes — we hire X-ray machines, walk-through metal detectors and complete checkpoints for anything from a single day to a full season. We deliver, install, commission and dismantle, and our engineers provide technical cover for the duration, including 24-hour response where the event requires it.
How much does security checkpoint hire cost?
We quote every job individually, because five things move the price:
- How long you need the equipment — a day, a weekend, a season, a year
- How many lanes you are running
- Which equipment goes in each lane — an archway and handhelds is a different job from dual-view X-ray with AI detection
- Whether you want operators supplied, or you are running the lanes yourself
- Where it is going, and how long our engineers are on site
Refurbished aviation-standard rental equipment is how we offer airport-grade screening at a fraction of the cost of buying new. Tell us the dates, the location and the expected footfall and you will have a quote quickly.
Does hire include an operator or just the machine?
Hire always includes delivery, installation, commissioning and technical support. Operator familiarisation is provided, trained operators can be supplied where you need them, and AI-assisted lanes can reduce the number of trained screeners you need — one operator can oversee multiple lanes at a consistent detection standard.
Can hired equipment help with Martyn's Law?
It can, once you have established that screening is the proportionate answer for your premises — but no equipment, hired or bought, makes you compliant on its own. Martyn's Law places duties on the responsible person, and it mandates no specific equipment. Screening is one way of delivering a public protection measure at the enhanced tier; the assessment, the procedures and the documentation are what satisfy the duty.
Where screening is the right call, hire lets a venue or event put an aviation-standard search regime in place for a weekend or a season without capital outlay, with full service and maintenance included on long-term rental. See our Martyn's Law guide or the FAQs for what the Act actually requires.
Planning An Event Or Filling A Gap?
Give us dates, location and expected footfall — we'll design the checkpoint, quote it quickly, and be there when the gates open.
Get a hire quote Call 0800 161 5512