Prison officers didn’t tell cops ‘terrorist’ Daniel Khalife was missing for an HOUR as it’s revealed he vanished before

PRISON officers did not tell police terror suspect Daniel Khalife had escaped until an hour after his disappearance, it is alleged.

The 21-year-old broke out of HMP Wandsworth at 7.50am on Wednesday by clinging to the underside of a food delivery van.

Khalife is thought to have used makeshift straps to attach himself to the truck as it was waved out of the notorious South West London lock-up.

A prison source told staff at the Victorian Cat-B slammer realised Khalife was missing at around 7am, almost an hour before cops were alerted.

Prison managers told The Met “as soon as practically possible” but allegedly had to search other areas of the prison to avoid wasting their time as a nationwide manhunt got underway.

Khalife, a British citizen, was working in the kitchen when he escaped in a chef's uniform of a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toecap boots.

The former soldier - who has vanished before and is a flight risk - has now been on the run for 24 hours, sparking chaos across the country.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk revealed a probe will be launched into the prison as he made a speech in the House of Commons today.

He also vowed the fugitive prisoner "will be caught in due course" with "no stone left unturned".

An additional independent investigation into the escape will also take place in the future.

Outlining a timetable for the daring escape, Mr Chalk said: "What I can say is at approximately 7.30am yesterday morning, a vehicle which had made a delivery to the prison's kitchen left MP Wandsworth.

"Shortly afterwards, local contingency plans for an unaccounted prisoner were activated and in line with standard procedure.

"The police were informed. The prison was put into a state of lockdown while staff attempted to determine Daniel Khalife's whereabouts."

The minister confirmed the van Khalife had strapped himself to was "stopped and searched" by police after the alarm was raised. 

It comes as the M20 has been closed coastbound due to enhanced security checks.

Airports and ports have been placed on high alert as anti-terror police scrambled to stop the prisoner leaving UK soil.

It left thousands of travellers facing longer queues at passport control as Border Force went into overdrive.

London Heathrow told The Sun they were still advising passengers to follow "normal travelling guidance", including checking in two hours ahead of short flights and three before longer-haul journeys.

Travel disruption later eased.

Khalife, who was attached to the Royal Signal Corps before being discharged, is accused of leaving fake bombs at an RAF base in January.

He vanished for more than three weeks after the bomb hoax before being arrested on January 26.

Another charge, under the Official Secrets Act, alleges Khalife collected personal information about soldiers from an MoD computer system that could be useful to an enemy.

He was being held on remand at Wandsworth prison and was due to stand trial on November 20.

Ex-Met Police commander John O’Connor said: “This sounds like something which could have happened at Colditz rather than a modern prison. It makes the prison service look like a laughing stock.

“It is utterly ridiculous he managed to escape so easily with such a basic old-fashioned ploy. Escaping by clinging to the underside of a van is the sort of thing you see in old World War Two films.”

Rosena Allin Khan, the local Labour MP told Times Radio there were huge staff shortages at Wandsworth, and claimed any prisoner could have escaped from the estate.

She added: "Wandsworth Prison is the fourth most overcrowded prison in the country, but struggles to find staff...

"I asked a PQ on staffing levels last year and was told less than half of shifts are filled. This prison also went 6 days without water recently."

Although not considered dangerous, the public have been warned not to approach the escapee — who is slim with brown hair and around 6ft 2in tall — but to call 999.